Probably worth pointing out here the governing equal priorities for management of a national park

conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage;
promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of National Parks by the public

Conservation/wildlife wise, clearing trees and opening up the ground is likely to have some significant advantages, especially for floral, invertebrate and bird diversity – if it’s maintained with a graded woodland edge with transition from grass to shrub rather than a hard woodland edge then that’s likely to be a significant improvement.

Regards promoting enjoyment, there’s little doubt that a nice long traffic free safe route like this gives fantastic opportunities for families and ‘non traditional’ user groups to get out in the countryside – add in to that things like reducing car use, and the money they have highlighted for interpretation signage etc, then I would say it seems to hit the buttons for Nationsl park facilities and development very well!

Given the fact that the route is a former railway line would this not by definition have been the underlying surface anyway?

One can imagine that, over time, this has collected leaf litter and grassed up, and one can only imagine that it will do so again…

yeah probably. but where will that leaf litter come from now they’ve removed a large amount of surrounding trees?

but how long should people have to wait before they can use the trail again?

That seems a little disingenuous, since it was clear that that although that option was ‘best value in terms of long term spend’ it was rejected because “although the route will be safer, it will not be at its full potential and therefore will not be used”

really? it always seemed busy in its previous state. certainly whenever i used it there was plenty of 2 wheeled and 4 legged users.

neilgates that is along post but I still think this is a good thing. Its to soon for complaints about the “Suface type”. Give it a winter or two it will look/fell very different.

The maid difference is now more people will have access to that Meon valley path which is a good thing!

yes, it may very well “bed in” over time. but as above, how long should people wait?

and theres no doubt that getting people outdoors is a good thing, but to do it at the cost of making it unsuitable for some? is that not counter productive?

“considerable amount of bridleways in Hampshire”, yes you’re probably right.

There are 100s of bridleways more fun to ride than the old railway line ever was.

To try and put some context on that that statement is a bit like saying “Bike Park Wales has closed down but there are plenty of other trail centers in the UK just use those”

It’s absolutely nothing like that really though, is it.

100s for those in close proximity to the meon valley? really?

for what its worth my horse riding partner and friend were almost run off the country lane they were using by a moron in a 4×4 recently who came up behind them revving their engine and then eventually barged past using the verge. because they had no other option to use the road as there were no bridleways. this was only a few miles from the MVT.

granted the BPW comment was an extreme example but I think the analogy fits personally.

theres no doubt that getting people outdoors is a good thing, but to do it at the cost of making it unsuitable for some? is that not counter productive?

I don’t really think that has been established yet – the caveat was pretty clearly stated that works over most of the route were unfinished, and most of the photos I have seen of the ‘unrideable’ surface were clearly works in progress (eg. From the men at work and road closed signs)

I don’t really think that has been established yet – the caveat was pretty clearly stated that works over most of the route were unfinished, and most of the photos I have seen of the ‘unrideable’ surface were clearly works in progress (eg. From the men at work and road closed signs)

the top end of the trail (west meon end) we’re told by the council is complete, this is what people are commenting on.

we’re told by the council is complete

Officially or Chinese whispers?

official line I heard yesterday was that none of it is complete, various stages of work underway on different stretches of trail.

The trees and Greenery will grow back, surprising fast. your ‘after’ photo was take recently (?), your ‘before’ photo was clearly taken with the trees in full -leaf.

Go back and take the same photo at The End of August 2016, those head-high nettles will bounce back all too quickly.

@neil, thanks for the post.

The trees where quite mature, it will be 10 years before it looks like it did. The felling was IMO nonsensical and just about using up the money.

The very bottom half of the trail/bridleway down past Botley Woods is actually tarmac so perhaps we should be thankful.

Officially or Chinese whispers?

In a statement the BHS said:

“The British Horse Society local Development Officer, Hannah Marsh, has visited the site at the West Meon end of the trail where a 100m stretch of the surfacing work has been completed.”

Yes, so let’s put that in context then:

The British Horse Society local Development Officer, Hannah Marsh, has visited the site at the West Meon end of the trail where a 100m stretch of the surfacing work has been completed. Hannah confirmed that this section is finished to a good standard, having had the stones well compacted to give a smooth surface, and the BHS has been assured that this is the standard to which the rest of the work will be finished. Particularly once the surface has had time to settle in and has had more use, it will become better with time. It is important to note that this is the only part HCC have said is finished, and other sections where users are seeing changes are still works in progress.

Doesn’t sound unrideable, or even unsuitable, for horses as claimed by others.

I have seen further comments that even this stretch still needs re-rolling after some decent rain too!

Correct that is more of the statement. It also goes on to give a link to the BHS guidance for track surfacing which states that MOT Type 1 surface should be used, but the surface that has been layed is more like Type 3 which is essentially larger chunks of aggregate with less dust material to fill in the gaps.

(All of this information is available on the Facebook group, which is public access in case anyone thinks that information is being witheld. There are also a lot of documents and sources of information being dug out by people which are also pretty interesting.)

Edit: Yes there was some information provided in the last 18 hours regarding extra topping being added and rollered after rain. It’s strange (tin foil hats on) that this has only been mentioned following the local meeting in which the reps from HCC and SDPNA had very little response to the questions being asked.

A

Made the (very) local (free) paper

(rotated on photobucket!)

With the recent introduction of

Phytophthora ramorum (Sudden Oak Death) & Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus (Ash Die Back) etc etc

We are going to have to get used to the idea that, landowners are going to have to clear-fell all trees overhanging (or close to) roads, railways and public rights of way, or face crippling insurance premiums.

The Railways have stated this work already and local councils are now catching up.

On the bright side, this should only last for the next hundred years or so, whilst resistant species can be identified ( or bio-engineered ) and matured

For anyone still following this saga, an FOI request has revealed the report outlining and justifying the proposed works, and the consultation that the anti’s claim never happened/wasn’t wide enough

https://mvrlug.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/walk-england-report_hf000009489705.pdf

Thanks ninfan and it was interesting reading. I wonder if any progress will be made.

It’s messy isn’t it – if anything I thought that the rexport really undermined the arguments of the ‘anti’ crowd, but I’m aware that might be by own bias, reading their Facebook pages they seem to have really jumped on several comments that support their claims, but overall I thought it read very much against the claims they have been making, especially the claim that there was inadequate consultation or that their opinions were ignored.

I thought the clinchers were:

The report really did list some fairly big issues with the state of repair that needed tackling
The consultation did reveal general dissatisfaction with the mud etc. by a number of users
The consultation showed pretty overwhelming support for the proposals

The comment from the author that: “A minority of responses expressed a sense that the MVT belongs to the riders, and that increased use by other users would be detrimental to their enjoyment.”
Bearing in mind that was written a good two years ago, I think it was remarkably prescient…

Very much agree with your comments especially with regard to ownership by the geegee riders. To be fair there is a lack of bridleways leading off the MVT, can only see Old Winchester Hill although West Walk (FC owned) only has footpaths. Some people don’t like change though.

I’ve not cycled there for around 20 years and I remember it being in a bad way then. Also, as has been mentioned in the report, it feels enclosed and some trees need removing to allow views.

I would imagine that the new housing will add weight to a solution that meets the needs of many different users although it seems that it won’t be easy to put in practice.

Not read any recent stuff on this but noticed it high in stw threads.
Ridden this section twice in last couple of weeks, having not ridden it since before resurfacing. It’s an excellent job, aggregate and some course sand in places makes this a year round path that was in places a quagmire during rainy season. Especially, thank god, the bottom of old winch hill, which was Fkn terrible!
They’ve obviously spent a lot on the path as not only the resurfacing, but cleared a lot of the sides and walkways to access.

Great job

superfli – are the horses now staying away? 🙂

The pic above looks a bit like the Tissington/ High Peak trails up here in Derbyshire, they’re ace with the kids

I have nothing else to add ….. 🙂

Didn’t see no horses cg. Hopefully staying away from OWH, cause they make a right old mess 🙂

You still see horses, I mean why wouldn’t you. At least during the week when it’s quiet.

it’s still a great hack and great to see more people using it.