AN IDYLLIC fishery rich with kingfishers and otters may be destroyed forever by “Tarzan calls”.

This is the message from Go Ape opponents who hammered their views home to Eastleigh borough councillors.

Noise from the planned high wire adventure course at Itchen Valley Country Park was the issue the campaigners are highlighting.

Speaking to the council’s Environment Scrutiny Committee, Lower Itchen Fishery boss Lyndsey Farmiloe said the noise would drive the fishermen away and mean she would not be able to maintain the three and a half mile stretch of river her firm occupies.

Afterwards she said: “This part of the river is the jewel in the crown of Eastleigh but if we could not afford to do all the work we do it would quickly become a muddy bog.

“Fishermen from all over the world come to fish in the River Itchen and enjoy the tranquillity and amazing wildlife – Go Ape will stop them coming.”

She went on to say the river is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) which, combined with the River Test, brings more than £4m into the local economy.

Campaigners Margaret Raff and Christine Wright also complained that councillors, officers and the experts had not looked at noise implications in the places where the fishery comes closest to the planned leisure development.

They say the noise comparison with Moors Valley Go Ape, near Ringwood, was inaccurate as the attraction was shut at the time it was measured with staff told to simulate the noise of a massive holiday crowd.

After hearing their arguments the committee members recommended the noise aspect is looked at again.

They also recommended the authority looks at how often the filters that stop oil getting in the river are maintained and that bird and bat boxes were more spaced out around the facility.

Daily Echo: Click below to see a video of today's headlines in sixty seconds

As part of the decision made in December last year, construction of the course cannot start during nesting season, which runs from March to August.

Eastleigh Borough Council told the Daily Echo that the plan was being sent back to check that the original noise assessment had been completed correctly.

A spokesman from Eastleigh Borough Council said: “The issues around the Go-Ape application, raised by the Environment Scrutiny panel, are passed to the head of development control for consideration before he determines whether to permit the application.”

Additional reporting by James Maden