Ninthace - I'm not sure I agree with your analogy with lifts abroad. Those lifts are there, and whether you use them or not is a matter for you - I do the same sometimes when walking in the alps. However, the Whinlatter plan is a new development. Whenever I'm in the alps, winter or summer I am often shocked by the scarring of the landscape, and as a family we often have the conversation about what would happen if there was no ski industry yet, but someone turned up in the alps and said that they were going to develop the industry, but that it would change the landscape - would it get the go ahead? Not sure I know the answer to that.
I certainly don't feel hypocritical using one and being against another - (perhaps I should, though).
I don't think there is an easy answer to improving access in the Lakes, and Braithwaite can be very difficult to get through at busy times, but I don't think this is the answer - as stated, this is a man made forest, but again this means that it is likely that the forest will be managed, even cropped, leaving the gondola sitting in full view. Presumably, also, users of the gondola are going to want a view of the fells rather than of trees?
The other point is cost - these things cost an awful lot of money to build and so are going to need a lot of paying users to make it economically viable - how much development at Whinlatter itself is going to be necessary to make people stump up the cash to use this, and what impact will that have on the local environment?