Online petition Stop the unnecessary stone pitching in The Lake District National Park thinks that stone pitch steps are ruining the Lakeland experience.

>>> How and why you should do a bit of trail maintenance

The debate of how best to approach repairing and maintaining trails has been around a long time. Every mountain biker will have either heard or said the word “sanitised” when it comes to describing the new state of a repaired/altered trail.

This petition is not about trail being sanitised in the usual sense. This anti stone pitching campaign is about the aesthetic and nature of the resurfacing work. The principal claim being that stone pitching turns the great outdoors into a series of fells covered in staircases.

What is stone pitching? Look at the photo above. If you’ve ridden in the Lake District fells and mountains you’ll have encountered staircases like these. Some folk like them. Some folk do not.

This petition is not mountain bike specific. It seems there are plenty of ramblers out there who really do not like stone pitching.

Here’s the text from the online petition…

Stop the unnecessary stone pitching in The Lake District National Park

“Please sign this petition as an acknowledgement that you want The National Park and Fix The Fells to engage in public consultation before stone pitching any more paths or bridleways in The Lake District. Stone pitching on walking paths and bridleways in the Lake District National Park has become too wide spread.

“Some of our iconic walks and scrambles in The Lake District have been turned into staircases without open discussion on public opinion. This homogenisation of a considerable number of paths in The Lake District is against the will of many walkers and path users. Maintenance of paths and bridleways is important and generally Fix The Fells does a good service restoring water damaged areas such as with their work on Coledale Hause. However, the stone pitching on other areas with little erosion is ruining the experience of these trails which are now being changed forever without the voice of many users being heard.”

Here are some quotes from supporters who have signed the petition already…

“LDNP and Fix the Fells need to put a process in place to consult path and bridleway users properly before work is carried out. Both walkers and mountain bikers are saying that the reconstruction methods aren’t fit for purpose – please listen to them and make use of their knowledge when planning work.” – Ruth Burgess

“To stop the destruction of natural characterized trails that most users prefer.” – Paul Dawson