Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • Forestry Commission survey – already bin dun?
  • scrumfled
    Free Member

    i did it….but it definitely has a vibe of “tell us how we can extract more money from you”… and thats it..

    tjagain
    Full Member

    too many of the questions did not apply to me with no real option of “none”

    also appears to be England only. done it anyway

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    mtbfix
    Full Member

    Did it the other day. It did sound a bit like a money chasing operation but tbh the financial benefit is what has drawn so much investment to trails around the uk so that can be no bad thing.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Done it and whilst I’m inclined to agree it does sound a bit “give us your money” as above that’s what makes it viable and at least they’re asking what we want [to spend our money on] rather than just moaning we don’t use the really-expensive-to-build-and-maintain-thing-no-one-really-wants they installed 18 months ago which so often seems to be the case.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    scrumfled – Member
    i did it….but it definitely has a vibe of “tell us how we can extract more money from you”… and thats it..

    Ditto.

    I especially liked how they mostly profile your spending then asked how you feel about working on the trails, not that I have a problem with paying for stuff or volunteering to dig but the balance was more around money…

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Well I’ve seen better surveys 😉 and that was a pain to do on mobile – but I think it’s a really positive sign that the FC are seeking MTBers’ opinions.

    Both on a “because it’s nice” level and as it means they see MTBers as a big part of their audience, able to contribute to their continued viability.

    Del
    Full Member

    done it. was intrigued by the ‘cycling policy’ on where you’re allowed to ride part?

    stevextc
    Free Member

    I especially liked how they mostly profile your spending then asked how you feel about working on the trails, not that I have a problem with paying for stuff or volunteering to dig but the balance was more around money…

    But it’s partly valid…. even £2 is a lot for the dishwater coffee at Swinley but if they had food like Guisburn or Sherwood I’d pay more…. (though they would need to provide a bleeding place to lock a bike at Sherwood)

    Equally £2/4hrs or £4 all day at Swinley for parking… I’m happy to pay … £12 at Bedgebury… I paid but I’m not happy and leaves a bad taste…. (If I knew £10 went to trails I might be happier though)

    Same for bike hire…. I don’t usually but if/when I do I’ll hire a premium…(something different to what I usually ride). Especially useful if you are away with work or non-cycling holiday… and can just pop to a trail for 1/2 day or so….

    Andy_K
    Full Member

    Main points for me were uplifts and a national level parking pass which is sorely needed IMO.

    slowster
    Free Member

    done it. was intrigued by the ‘cycling policy’ on where you’re allowed to ride part?

    The various paths and tracks on Forestry Commission land in the New Forest are not shown on the map as rights of way, so there are no legal footpaths or bridleways as such. Instead, the public are largely free to walk and ride horses anywhere on the Forestry Commission land.

    However, the FC restricts cycling to designated tracks, specifically probably about half of the gravel tracks in the New Forest. Unfortunately, the network of those cycling tracks is not that good for riding any great distance off road and linking places together. Consequently a lot of cyclists, including the ordinary public, use the non-cycling paths to get from A to B in some places.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    Weird

    The question(s) about facilities and thier importance were odd:
    Not interested…..Minimum requirement…….Actually use

    “minimum requirement” to me means that it’s essential and “actually use” is obvioulsy location-dependent (availability and also how far from home it might be)

    … and yeah, I commented on the new forest “policy” too 🙄

    stevextc
    Free Member

    Weird

    The question(s) about facilities and thier importance were odd:
    Not interested…..Minimum requirement…….Actually use

    “minimum requirement” to me means that it’s essential and “actually use” is obvioulsy location-dependent (availability and also how far from home it might be)

    Yep…. that’s exactly what I thought…

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Filled in the survey then went and did a loop at swinley; Bank holiday Sunday and the car park was Rammed.

    There were a few more riders on the trails, but TBH it wasn’t totally stuffed with bikes.

    The one thing I did note, was the lad in trackies with a drawstring bag, not exactly breaking a sweat, on a (rented?) E-bike.
    That questionnaire did include mention of E-bikes and rental kit, so clearly they’re expecting to attract a broader bunch than just the current trail centre sorts…

    So I would expect to see more “e-bikers” with the FC looking to coax more cash from some new punters… It’s not just going to be new cafés and nicer toilets…

    stevextc
    Free Member

    Filled in the survey then went and did a loop at swinley; Bank holiday Sunday and the car park was Rammed.

    There were a few more riders on the trails, but TBH it wasn’t totally stuffed with bikes.

    The one thing I did note, was the lad in trackies with a drawstring bag, not exactly breaking a sweat, on a (rented?) E-bike.
    That questionnaire did include mention of E-bikes and rental kit, so clearly they’re expecting to attract a broader bunch than just the current trail centre sorts…

    So I would expect to see more “e-bikers” with the FC looking to coax more cash from some new punters… It’s not just going to be new cafés and nicer toilets..

    Swinley is not FC but Crown Estates… though it might be a valid indicator… and I don’t think they hire ebikes at Swinley anyway and the Bike Hub is a private business anyway…

    I’d also probably welcome more ebikes (and especially hire)… as it would make it far more accessible to lots more people who could then start to get fit enough.

    I did see a family at Swinley where the son and mother were so obese I shuddered and although my initial thoughts were “get a real bike” .. after a bit of thought I realised that they were so obese they wouldn’t make it round the family green unassisted…. at least this way they could do more and longer and might one day ride unassisted?

    thenorthwind
    Full Member

    Bump for this. I just got round to doing it (been bookmarked for weeks) and noticed the deadline is in a couple of days.

    Unsurprised by questions about money. How to fund a facility that’s essentially free to use was always going to be a hot topic. It’s just a shame there was no “free text” entry for comments on this, or generally. I would have liked to have made the point that I’m happy to pay a reasonable fee for parking, but that I don’t consider, say an £8 all day fee when I only want 3 hours, reasonable.

    Some poorly designed questions though (e.g. the facilities “not interested/expect as minimum/actually use” – so what if a cafe is nice but not essential?).

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