On my way to work I go across a bit of land that used to be a brickworks and is now a little nature reserve slash park kind of place. It has some big surfaced paths across it and seems to be a popular way of getting around for pedestrians, dog walkers, cyclists going to work or school, kids playing around on bikes, it's all very friendly.
Now in the name of "improving access" (that's what their newsletter says) the council are installing some large kissing-gate style metal gates that you can't bike through, so us cyclists will all have to go round a longer way on the road instead.
I have never seen any evidence of undesirable activities that these gates will stop, so do they just have too much money to spend? Fifty yards down the road is a wrecked bit of crash barrier that someone crashed their car into aaaages ago that still hasn't been fixed yet, surely they could have done that instead?
The council round here (Cannock) don't seem to want anyone to get about using anything but a car; I can't walk or cycle to the tip, if I want to walk to the station (only 1/2 an hour away) I have to risk life and limb crossing a massive great trunk road that has no crossings on it, and now a bit of my way to work is out of bounds for no good reason!
Oooooo it makes me cross.
