So, being an interfering middle-class busybody I am on our Parish Council, and they want someone to look after footpaths and rights of way.

I wouldnt be surprised if >50% of cheeky riding done locally is down to yours truly 😳 so would taking the post be a smart move – or hypocrisy?

Subvert from within….

smart move.

just argue you can patrol more of your local rights of way on a bike.

“Oi you’re riding on a footpath”

“It’s all right I’m patrolling it for your benefit”

“That’s fine then – carry on with my blessing”

If you already don’t have enough to do in life without being part of the god botherers crew they why not sign up the remainder of it to footpath upkeep.

If you are going to enforce a view that you do not hold then it would be hypocrisy. If you are going to try and influence the system from within according to your own view point then it wouldn’t.

The counter argument would be that as a member of the parish council you should act on behalf of the majority regardless of your own opinion, but then I would have thought that you should also abide by the rules if you expect anyone else to do so.

Rock and a hard place.

Privatise them all all and sell them to a property developer for a massive bung and an award from Call-me-Dave for your services to the Big Society

If you are going to enforce a view that you do not hold then it would be hypocrisy

It’s the parish council, not the police.

I suspect they just want someone to walk round the local footpaths and bridleways with a pair of secateurs once a fortnight and trim anythign that’s overgrown and talk to landowners about bigger obstructions.

Fit a measuring stick to your bike so you can say you are checking the width as you ride along 😀

talk to landowners about bigger obstructions

Isn’t that the ROW officer’s job?

Is that not the role of the ROW office at the local authority? I didn’t think Parish Councils had any clout when it came to ROW’s.

Edit – whoops too slow at typing

It’s the parish council, not the police.

Admittedly in the big scheme of things it’s pretty close to the couldn’t give a toss end of the scale but for instance if winterfold was put in charge of commissioning and erecting “no cycling, footpath only” signage which he later ignored whilst completing a very nice local loop, would that not be a hypocritical action?

I don’t think there is any ethical issue. If someone managed to bring a civil prosecution for damage you cuased while tresspassing on your bike on a footpath across their land, they might be scope to bring a vote of no confidence against you. Unlikely mind.

Hmm, cheers for your opinions, plenty to think about

I was thinking about making some improvements to some of our local cheeky obstacles and at that point I think hypocrisy would be a fair call, even though I buy the change from within argument totally.

Has the makings of a great article for page 15 of the local rag or an Archers sub-plot: ‘parish councillor in illegal trail-building shock’

PS Parish Councils are about local admin, not God bothering.

if you do it can you wear a t-shirt with the rules of cheeky trails written on it to every meeting and see if anyone notices?

I’d say you should to take the position on unless there’s someone else interested and much better placed to do it. If its anything like round here, all that it will be is that the ROW office and parish council want somebody to bridge the gap between them. Rather than having someone who never uses ROW saying what they think, you can use your experience to make judgements. Much better IMO. There is no necessary conflict of interests. Should be said mind you that there are a whole range of ROW and other permissive routes that most parish councils would have some interest in, not just footpaths. In any case, it’s better you take control over it than someone with no idea, interest or never uses them.

Just as a self-indulgent update.

i accepted the post 😆 and have since been working out how local cheeky can have some features built in.

However, this week I actually had to do something – a local footpath which crosses a river had an anti-cycle barrier at one end which prevented some kids cycling from one village to my village school. Our county council established that the barrier had not been built by the landowner and did qwe object to its removal? Of course not, and even the moany old nimby councillors didnt – because they see cheeky > safer to road. Now the PC will ask for permissive bike use on this path.

Boring? Maybe, however, I suggest that at a (sensible) local level the UK is pro-bike and it is worth getting off your arse and getting involved at a local level.

@ junkyard, what are “the rules of cheeky tails”, surely that’s an oximoron

Parish Councils are gaining in powers. I think its sensible for us to get involved and help look after biking interests, cheeky or not. Particularly in urban areas PCs are picking up responsibilities from county and boroughs. Our local one has a budget of over £6m and employs about 30 people. Given this are we sure that Winterfold isn’t set on world domination and that all footpaths in his area will become Olympic quality single track?

stavromuller – Member

@ junkyard, what are “the rules of cheeky tails”, surely that’s an oximoron

linky

Good ‘principals’ on the cheeky link…

I don’t see an issue here. Being involved in your local community is good, someone needs to keep an eye on local ROW, just because its a footpath does not automatically mean you can’t ride bike and indeed you could use your influence to get permissive bridleway status for some of the paths were appropriate