This month's Star Letter
This month’s star letter ponders why Trails For Wales has taken so long to happen?
Trails for Wales
Am I missing something? Earlier this year the Welsh Government said it was going to reform its land access laws, letting mountain bikers use footpaths and trail on open access land. That’s awesome news, but why on earth hasn’t this happened before? We’ve had bikes capable of going off-road for nearly 50 years now, and the benefits to tourism and health and health and unchallengeable, so why has it taken so long?
Just look at the trouble and congestion this bureaucracy has caused. My understanding is that bikes are prohibited from turning their wheels on 80% of rights of way in England and Wales, meaning bikes are effectively concentrated on too few trails and paths. And they wonder why erosion takes place and we get conflicts on the trails with other users. Surely it makes sense to let bikes spread out over more trails, and remove the bottlenecks?
– Tom Hawkins
mbr – All valid points Tom, but now we’ve pretty much got what we asked – a review of land access, which could lead to bikes legally allowed on footpaths — it’s probably time to say thanks to Hannah Blythyn. She’s the Assembly Member heading the reforms, so it would be useful to give the Welsh Government some credit, and at the same time keep the pressure on to deliver what they’ve promised — perhaps a reminder of the overwhelming support there is from the voting populace for those reforms.
Contact us: mbr@timedia.com
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