Septimus
Registered user
Whato Chaps!
This is just a quick heads up about a letter that was published in the Hexham Courant last week Letter
I've pasted the letter in full below in case the link doesn't work or the page gets removed.
I particularly enjoyed the scaremongering headline
I guess that a response to this letter should really come from someone in the area (I left in '86) and it may be a good idea to flag it up to the local TRF.
Give me a shout if I can help in any way.
Cheers
Russ
Bikers are allowed to take over forest
Last updated 13:37, Thursday, 15 May 2008
AS a council tax payer, I should like to know why a whole network of Byways Open To All Traffic (BOAT) is being created in and around Slaley Forest.
Open access: The new classification of trails through Slaley Forest may deter families from taking walks.
Presumably this is being paid for out of county council funds?
How is it that busy stretches of road in Hexham are full of potholes and have been for a long time? Can the council not afford to have them repaired? How much is the new BOAT network going to cost? Have the Northumberland residents been consulted about it?
At the moment the forest is a lovely place for families with children and walkers – people who like a healthy life. At the moment there are national campaigns to cut carbon emissions and for people to go out and exercise.
Does the council have any objectives in these areas? Already packs of motorbikers are using the BOAT between the forest and Blanchland.
When the word gets around, bikers will be streaming from all over the North-East to this new BOAT network, a bikers' paradise. This rural idyll will be avoided by people seeking peace and exercise when the environment becomes too dangerous and noisy.
The whole project is insane.
When I first became aware of this initiative about a year ago I walked along a newly designated BOAT following the western boundary of the forest, half of which is outside the fence on open moorland.
There was no sign of any usage except by sheep, and they skirted the pools of water in places.
Now there is, halfway along, a new wicket gate – open to all traffic. Old tracks are being re-surfaced and drained and new ones created.
Two routes previously used as footpaths are closed for a whole year so a lot of work must be involved. How much will it all cost? If the pretext for all this is “historical precedent” (to help the “offroaders”) then why not open up all the Roman roads?
I should welcome a rational explanation.
(This is a copy of a letter sent to the chief executive of Northumberland County Council.)
JOHN LYNCH,
Kitty Frisk,
Hexham
This is just a quick heads up about a letter that was published in the Hexham Courant last week Letter
I've pasted the letter in full below in case the link doesn't work or the page gets removed.
I particularly enjoyed the scaremongering headline
I guess that a response to this letter should really come from someone in the area (I left in '86) and it may be a good idea to flag it up to the local TRF.
Give me a shout if I can help in any way.
Cheers
Russ
Bikers are allowed to take over forest
Last updated 13:37, Thursday, 15 May 2008
AS a council tax payer, I should like to know why a whole network of Byways Open To All Traffic (BOAT) is being created in and around Slaley Forest.
Open access: The new classification of trails through Slaley Forest may deter families from taking walks.
Presumably this is being paid for out of county council funds?
How is it that busy stretches of road in Hexham are full of potholes and have been for a long time? Can the council not afford to have them repaired? How much is the new BOAT network going to cost? Have the Northumberland residents been consulted about it?
At the moment the forest is a lovely place for families with children and walkers – people who like a healthy life. At the moment there are national campaigns to cut carbon emissions and for people to go out and exercise.
Does the council have any objectives in these areas? Already packs of motorbikers are using the BOAT between the forest and Blanchland.
When the word gets around, bikers will be streaming from all over the North-East to this new BOAT network, a bikers' paradise. This rural idyll will be avoided by people seeking peace and exercise when the environment becomes too dangerous and noisy.
The whole project is insane.
When I first became aware of this initiative about a year ago I walked along a newly designated BOAT following the western boundary of the forest, half of which is outside the fence on open moorland.
There was no sign of any usage except by sheep, and they skirted the pools of water in places.
Now there is, halfway along, a new wicket gate – open to all traffic. Old tracks are being re-surfaced and drained and new ones created.
Two routes previously used as footpaths are closed for a whole year so a lot of work must be involved. How much will it all cost? If the pretext for all this is “historical precedent” (to help the “offroaders”) then why not open up all the Roman roads?
I should welcome a rational explanation.
(This is a copy of a letter sent to the chief executive of Northumberland County Council.)
JOHN LYNCH,
Kitty Frisk,
Hexham
