This is probably only ‘news’ if you had your head in a social media-free black hole last week – but just in case you missed it/were on holiday/don’t do Twitface, here’s a story from Ride Sheffield about the flattening of a well-known, well-used bridleway in the Peak. We know it well, and are *quite* annoyed, too…
Wigley Lane Flattened!
Mountain bikers have been left furious once again after another Peak District trail is flattened in the name of ‘safety’. Wigley Lane runs from Longstone Edge to the village of Rowland and posed, until recently, a decent challenge. Now, exposed limestone bedrock has been covered with road-planings by Derbyshire County Council and technical singletrack has been converted into a flat, wide, all but uncontrollable descent.
Furthermore, many outdoor enthusiasts were left mystified as to why DCC are able to bring entirely alien surfacing materials such as road-planings into an area of outstanding beauty and great environmental significance. Wildlife Trusts, the Eastern Moors Partnership and other land managers all ensure that they use the correct materials by liaising with Natural England. Are DCC somehow exempt?
Cy Turner of Cotic Bikes is particularly incensed as the track forms part of a favourite circuit. “It was obvious that the track needed some work to make it safe for other users, particularly horse riders, but this is vandalism. DCC have managed to destroy the challenge that existed and create a trail that is actually more dangerous for all users. The surface is breaking up and the unwary may find themselves travelling too fast and unable to stop on three inches of loose gravel. Surely it is in DCC’s interests to consult with user groups to prevent this kind of ill-conceived maintenance?”
The most depressing part of this is DCC’s high-handed attitude. The DCC website is full of fine words about consultation and involving all user groups but in this instance and recently on Stanage Causeway, there has been little if any consultation and an inevitable outcry has been the result. Ride Sheffield has made a number of overtures to DCC offering to consult at a moment’s notice when work is being considered, but they have been rebuffed at every turn. Is this any way for a public body to act?
To add your voice, chip in to the comments below, and keep an eye on Ride Sheffield for updates.
UPDATE – TUESDAY 17:40
We’ve had this response from Derbyshire CC via their twitter account @derbyshirecc
“@singletrackmag 1/3 You can’t always please everyone. Some people prefer a rocky route while others prefer a smoother surface”
“@singletrackmag 2/3 We had complaints about the poor condition of Wigley Lane. We can’t consult every time we carry out work”
“@singletrackmag 3/3 We work with Peak District NPA, Natural England & local access forums which give advice on access issues”
Of course, what the author behind the @derbyshirecc account has failed to recognise is that had they actually consulted on this work before hand they would have stood a fair chance of avoiding work that has patently made this trail more dangerous than it was originally.
Replies (26)
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What a bunch of fuds DCC are. Why don’t they just tarmac everything.
That loose surface is more dangerous. Lulls people into a false sense of security (especially inexperienced). Little to no traction at speed.
Been a regular Peaks rider its sad to see another classic challenging piece of trail sanitised for the perceived greater good of the public. The new tarmac ribbon that has been laid over the nice off road trail at the bottom of Wigley is the cherry on the cake 🙁 Any one notice there is a space on the Derbyshire LAF for outdoor pursuits rep on the panel, Anyone?
All personal bias aside surely everyone, councillors included, must feel something die inside them when they see that horrid material dumped in the countryside? It saddens me that this happens anywhere, and yet I’ve seen it in Bath, in Essex where ancient rights of way have been permanently changed/damaged*, and now this.
Sad and wrong.
Just adding my voice to the saddened and disapproving masses. There are so many things wrong here:
– waste of time / effort / money
– worse than before
– unnatural materials and appearance
– refusal from DCC to consult
they should be taken to court for fly-tipping in my view.
Thanks for all the comments. We (Ride Sheffield) are trying to put more pressure on DCC to explain themselves. They claimed there was some kind of legal threat about the state of the trail, which is the excuse the hid behind for Stanage Causeway. I’m going to look into making a complaint on legal grounds about the work done and see what that does, by them getting a legal threat on a counter arguement. If anyone has any environmental or planning law experience or does that for profession, drop me a line. My solicitor is a good guy, but he’s commercial and contracts so not really his bag. Happy to pay proper rates for proper work, no freebies required. Drop me an email if you can help, or know of someone good.
Related, the thing that’s pissed me off most about this is that DCC seem to think that this whole thing is about whether the work should have been done at all. Totally missing the point that it’s the NATURE of the work that’s the issue. As a regular user of the trail (it’s part of our test loop and we (used to) take our demo rides down it as it’s just up the hill from our warehouse) I don’t disagree that some work needed doing. As someone who’s shepherded Peak virgins down there on demo rides the middle section in particular did need some clearing out and filling in. However, it was a gem of a limestone descent; one of the very few in the area as it’s right on the change in geology from Dark to White Peak. Limestone and sandstone have been used to great effect at the insistence of Natural England just up the road by Eastern Moors partnership. Even Black Harry’s Gate mentioned above – regardless of what you think of the quality of the work – was done in sympathetic stone, and that’s not even 1km away from Wigley Lane.
So sad…..
Genuinely, I want some proper legal advice on this. I want to take them on. Get in touch if you can help.
Cy,
first of all, good on you for talking this on!
A non-premium mate made this suggestion and asked that I post it on his behalf:
“I would suggest an FOI request to the CC for copies of all the meeting minutes, notes and emails relating to the work, the risk assessment for before and after, the environmental impact report and so on. If you know how they came to the decision it makes it easier to take them to task over it as rather than saying they got it wrong you can tell them how they got it wrong”