Around 100 people attended a rally to protest plans to develop a visitor attraction at a Lake District quarry.
It was organised by charity Friends of the Lake District, which is objecting to the proposals by Burlington Slate to transform Elterwater Quarry into a heritage tourism attraction.
It is estimated up to 50,0000 people a year could visit.
Objectors are concerned that the roads in the Langdale Valley, near Ambleside, will not be able to cope.
The initial application was turned down due to traffic concerns. A new application, with a revised transport plan by Burlington Slate and operator Zip World, which says it would put on shuttle buses and not encourage people to drive to the site, has not quelled the protestors’ fears.
The Elterwater Quarry plans also include a cavern explorer attraction. Plans include platforms that will be installed in the caves at points of interest, and visitors will travel from one platform to another via zipline.
But protestors say it is the wrong type of attraction for a national park and world heritage site – and say zip wires are not appropriate; although it appears from the plans that the ziplines would not be above ground.
Among the guest speakers at the protest was Bill Birkett, writer, photographer, rock climber, and mountaineer, who grew up in Langdale and whose father was a slate quarryman.
He said: “This development doesn’t do anything for the local community and is totally inappropriate. It demeans the history of this area and the quarrymen who worked there. I’m a local and the associated traffic is also a huge problem.
“Commercial developments like this are not what we need. Zip wires are fine for Alton Towers but not for here.”
Friends of the Lake District CEO, Michael Hill said: “The rally was an important opportunity for people who care about the tranquillity of this beautiful part of the Lake District to make their voices heard. It was great to see around 100 people brave the rainy conditions.”
The plans have been submitted to the Lake District National Park Authority and will be examined by its planning committee shortly.
