AN ambitious scheme to build a cable car up the side of the Worcestershire Beacon has been soundly rejected by the Makvern Hills Conservators.

At a special meeting last night (Thursday), members of the body entrusted with the care of the Malvern Hills voted 21-0, with one abstention, to have nothing to do with the idea.

Some 80 members of the public crowded into the Council Chamber off Avenue Road to witness the meeting, and the audience gave the Conservators a round of applause after they reached their decision.

The scheme is being promoted by Malvern For All, a non-profit company, as an attraction to revitalise the town. Malvern for All has received advice from a company which successfully operates a cable car at Matlock Baths, Derbyshire.

The group's proposal includes a base station off the Wells Road, just south of Rose Bank Gardens, with the cable car itself running up Rushey Valley to a point just below the summit of the Beacon.

At last night's meeting, Conservators' director Stephen Bound gave a lengthy presentation outlining reasons why the proposal should not be supported.

He said the Conservators' charitable objects included preserving the natural aspect of the hills and preventing building or encroachment, and allowing the cable car would go against these objects and the Acts of Parliament governing the Conservators.

He also said it would go against the Hills' status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

During the public part of the meeting, Colwall resident Dwayne Martin said his family had lived in Matlock Baths for four years and although the Heights of Abraham cable car brought in many visitors, it did little for the local economy.

He said: "The main businesses are chip shops, arcades, tacky gift shops, ice-cream parlours and cafes. It very much has the feeling of a Blackpool in the Peaks."

And Martin Bird said creating the top station would mean "blasting out huge quantities of rock" for the scheme to take place.

The board resolved that it did not consider it "legally possible or appropriate" to approve any cable car or similar scheme, which would be "entirely at odds" with its objectives.

Furthermore it resolved it would be "inappropriate" to spend any further time or resources on the matter, and would therefore not entertain any further approaches on the subject.

In a statement issued the morning after the meeting, Malvern For All described the decision as "a mere restatement" of the refusal by them to countenance change in a rapidly changing world.

"The expense and inconvenience incurred by the Conservators merely led to them repeating their maxim of “it can’t be done because of the law”. So much time and expense was expended to no effect," it said.

"Buoyed by the increasing level of public support for the cable car Malvern for All will continue to advance the scheme at a national level."