CLIMBERS are angry that a popular Wye Valley climbing spot has been declared out of bounds for the foreseeable future.
Forestry England, which owns the land at Symonds Yat within the Wye Valley national landscape, put in the ban, also covering the public right of way from Symonds Yat Rock to the river Wye, following the fall of around 20 tonnes of rock a year ago,.
But British Mountaineering Council regional chair Colin Knowles called the ongoing ban “completely ludicrous”.
“The great majority of these cliffs are entirely safe to climb on, and safe approaches are available which do not cross the affected area,” he said, following a meeting of the group to discuss the issue.
But he said climbers were happy to cooperate with Forestry England’s planned works to reinstate a “capture fence” which had been destroyed by the fall.
The BMC has also indicated to climbers via its app which areas are currently safe and not safe to climb and to approach, Mr Knowles said.
The group’s access and conservation officer Jon Fullwood said climbing “nationally important” limestone crag “is a legal right under normal circumstances”.
But Forestry England have now extended the temporary closure “to a de facto permanent ban on the basis of a geotechnical report that they are unwilling to share will us”, he said.
He claimed the government land agency “also withdrew an offer agreed with the BMC to partially open the crag”.
Forestry England says there have been further rockfalls since and these may still occur.
Its spokesperson said the ongoing closure “has been recommended by geotechnical specialist consultants”, after the loss of the capture fence left a situation of “unacceptable risk”.
“We cannot reopen access until we have fully replaced the fence and carried out further mitigation works to the rockface itself,” the spokesperson said, adding this was “a significant and costly project, which will require us to secure funding”.
But they stressed that the aim is to reopen the crag in time, “not to ensure the permanent closure of it”.