Last updated 19:42, Thursday, 10 July 2008

OBJECTIONS have been raised to a plan to run quad bike tours close to the ancient Castlerigg Stone Circle in Keswick.

The Lake District National Park Authority will organise a site visit to land at Goosewell Farm, near the circle, to see the effects the bikes could have on the monument.

The plan has been put forward by the Newlands Adventure Centre, which wants to run guided quad bike tours over land which they already use for activities including a rope course, orienteering and bushcraft.

The site runs close to Naddle Beck, which is part of a special area of conservation, and routes would be just 250 metres from the stone circle, which is a scheduled ancient monument.

A management plan says that the season would only be from May 1-October 31; tours would be for a maximum of six people, led by a guide and the bikes would be fully silenced.

Six messages of objection have been received, claiming that the noise would harm the ‘mysticism, mystery and ongoing fascination’ of the stone circle.

Member Vivienne Rees of Grasmere said: “This is the most important stone circle within the National Park and it would be a dereliction of our duty if we allow the peace and tranquility of this special place to be invaded.”

The National Trust, which owns the stone circle and manages the site jointly with English Heritage, says that noise from the bikes would be in direct conflict with the tranquility of the site and its value for quiet contemplation.

National Park planning officer Ben Long said it was a ‘novel and unusual’ application for use of land in the open countryside to provide an additional attraction.