SCORES of objections have been lodged against a planning application to transform the Elterwater Quarry, in the Langdale Valley, into a 'heritage tourism attraction' - just a week after it was formally submitted.
The application to create the 'Elterwater Experience', submitted by Holker Group and Burlington Stone, which owns the site, was registered on January 9 and already 130 official objections have been lodged to the Lake District National Park Authority.
After an outline proposal released in June 2022 garnered huge opposition, the official application submitted has been 'scaled back' to include a visitor centre and a 'cavern explorer' system, in which participants would be harnessed to overhead lines to explore the quarry.
The application also proposes to use the existing road system for access.
READ MORE: Proposal submitted for quarry attraction which drew thousands of objections
One objection, lodged by Michael Phippard, says: "The idea of building a theme park in an area such as this is pure desecration.
"For the sake of future generations, I hope you will have the courage to deny permission."
James Graham wrote: "Any increased traffic/tourism in this village will be the final nail in the coffin of what was once a beautiful, authentic Lakeland village and which is now rapidly on its way to becoming a 'Yosemite/Disney-style' tourist attraction full of excessive numbers of tourists and rental cottages.
"While I understand the needs of the wider Cumbrian economy, once a place has been ruined and lost its character completely, there's no way to get it back (look at Bowness or Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds for examples of thoroughly ruined beauty spots)."
Robert Scurr said: "A far more acceptable development would be to turn the quarry into a nature reserve and help to restore the damage caused by over two centuries of industry."
The fear of the area becoming a 'theme park' is a common one throughout the objections, as is the strain that the added traffic would place on the infrastructure and its natural beauty.
READ MORE: Ambitious plan for quarry to feature high ropes and rollercoaster
Eleanor Dickenson wrote: "This would be an appalling development strategy for Langdale, which should be left to rewild, not converted into a for-profit theme park.
"The transport plan is unworkable, and any development of this kind would be entirely unsuitable in a World Heritage Site."
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