Please sign our petition and help stop the development of a concrete luge track down Blaze Fell, a biodiverse sandstone ridge in rural Cumbria. It is a totally inappropriate site, and will be immensely damaging to the local environment; from the felling of countless trees to the destruction and degradation of unique natural habitats. Locals are almost universally opposed to its development for the following reasons: 

• An immense carbon footprint it will need over 700 tonnes of concrete to construct, with unsightly support pillars visible for miles. Concrete is a notably unsustainable material with a huge carbon footprint.
• The innate noise and air pollution of the site will be spread along the narrow roads of the Eden Valley by over 500 cars per day.
• Accidents associated with the ride place an unnecessary burden on local ambulances and Accident+Emergency services. A similar luge track in New Zealand saw a considerable increase in Emergency attendances.
• No ecological survey or ecological impact assessment has been performed, a cynical ploy by the developer, given the presence of protected species (The Great Crested newt) and other notable species (common lizards, adders, Natterer’s bats, badgers and hares) within the environ of the track.
• Flood-risk, run-off water from the concrete tracks are widely expected to flood farms and the surrounding heathland. 
• Contamination of local water sources, the development is in a water Source Protection Zone and is adjacent to natural springs
• Lastly the development contravenes Eden District Council’s own planning guidance on avoiding building on open countryside and on the skyline. The construction of a double-storey restaurant and shop at the Fell top will be an architectural monstrosity visible for miles around, wholly out of keeping with the vernacular stone farmhouses dotted through the surrounding countryside.

It would be imprudent and hypocritical of Eden District Council to approve this, having declared a ‘’Climate and Ecological Emergency’’ in July 2019. We can see no way in which this development can be considered anything but an act of rural vandalism. Despite the desperate attempts of the developers to burnish their green credentials they are quite clearly motivated only by rapaciousness.

www.ProtectEden.org