Protest planned over Eden Valley luge ride

Campaigners are to hold a protest rally against a proposed luge attraction in Eden Valley.

The proposal for an 850m concrete track, chairlifts, café and car park at Blaze Fell, near Armathwaite, has been described as “an act of rural vandalism”.

Protesters claim it will attract more than 500 cars a day, clogging minor rural roads and significantly increasing noise and air pollution.

However, the developers said the proposed attraction will bring economic gains to the community without negatively impacting the environment, citing carbon neutrality and the introduction of 2,000 new trees to be habitats for wildlife.

The luge, billed as the first of its kind in Europe, went before Eden District Council in 2021, and is now being considered by Westmorland and Furness Council.

An online petition against the plan has attracted more than 1,500 signatures, and on 9 March around 100 people are expected to gather at the fell to voice their objections.

Armathwaite resident and parish councillor David Ryland, who lives in the village, said: “Nobody objects to the idea in the principle, but it’s just in the wrong place.

“The hundreds of tonnes of concrete that will be used on the site will generate significant carbon emissions, and because the public transport links are inadequate the roads are going to be swamped with cars.

“In an area of great natural beauty and tranquillity this is nothing more than rural vandalism.”

The plans have been put forward by Cumbrian hotelier and landowner Charles Lowther and Daniel Holder, owner of an award-winning eco holiday park.

They insist that traffic will not increase significantly in Armathwaite and surrounding villages, claiming that most visitors will arrive via the A6 and shuttlebuses.

“We understand that with any new proposal, especially one that brings a brand-new idea, there will be intense local scrutiny,” said Mr Holder.

“But the luge track will sit unobtrusively within an established managed woodland on the northern side of Blaze Fell.

“Objectors say this attraction is ‘rural vandalism’ but we honestly believe it is a farm tourism enterprise that will revitalise this historically commercially quarried area.”

The council is due to consider the plans in the next few weeks.