Gyroplane firm ordered to stop Lakes site landings

Roger Savage runs gyroplane trips in the Lake District

A man has been ordered to stop using land in a national park for his gyroplane business.

Government planners upheld a decision by the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) against Roger Savage, who runs a firm which takes people in gyroplanes over the Lake District.

The businessman has three months to ensure gyroplanes no longer take off or land on a site to the north of the A66 in Troutbeck, near Penrith.

Mr Savage declined to comment.

All items linked with the landing and taking off of aircraft on the site, such as wind socks, must also be removed by Lake District Gyroplanes within the next three months, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

The site is one of two that Mr Savage uses for plane take-off and landing in the Lake District, the LDNPA said.

In 2021, the authority refused to allow the site be used for gyroplane take-off and landing.

But Mr Savage appealed against this, arguing he had used the site in this way for over 10 years.

No enforcement action can be taken against the change of land use to “mixed use” if it is taken after 10 years of the land being used “continuously” in this way, according to the LDNPA.

But the Planning Inspectorate backed the initial decision and said not enough evidence had been provided to say for certain that gyroplane activity had taken place on the site, “without significant interruption”, for the last 10 years.

The LDNPA said it had served an enforcement action against Mr Savage’s second airfield.

Mr Savage has appealed against this latest decision and it is currently with the Planning Inspectorate.