People will be people - those visiting an area have no real interest in how the locals get by and seem to think the place they are visiting is there for them. Winds me up how much people think consideration and common sense doesn't need to be used when visiting a place.
Always great to spend money in those places, but not a suitable reason to treat it like it is there purely for their entertainment.
Likewise, the locals will be happy with the increased money coming in to the area, but the downside with that is that there are far more people there and they don't live in the area so have no real idea of whatever issues/concerns are going on.
Double-edged sword really. However, I do think a bit more consideration by the people visiting the area would be a big start at improving things.
My mild rant isn't just about Innerleithen, it covers all areas that have an increase in non-locals (tourists and anyone else really) visiting and using the area.
I think a few things have happened in the past ten to fifteen years in Innerleithen. The MTB events coming back to the town again from 2008 and getting bigger each year, and e-bikes making the Golfie trails much more accessible to entry level riders (before it was challenging to get up to the top and few were prepared to pay in sweat)
The latest talk about putting in a parking lot at the Golf Club is just that - more word salad business case stuff (was it from DMBiS?). I have commented on this before the Golf Club own the land and the club house it would take a compulsory purchase order signed by Ministers etc etc. I am not saying it won't happen, but not soon.
Peebles does not have the same issues - the main trail centre is away from the town and has facilities.
It does come back to respecting that it’s a working town with a relatively high MTB focus. But visitors of all types (and to all places) need to be better at visiting. Locals know how much the town has profited but they also see the day in day out disrespect, that some folk have for places they are only in for a few hours.
Absolutely this.
it would take a compulsory purchase order
Apparently the Golf Club are fully in favour, they need the cash that a land sale would generate. It's part of the same Borderlands funding deal that the Innovation Centre is being paid for, but AFAIK depends on some commercial input too.
All those saying put a cafe in the car parks, what about the local businesses that have built up a customer base? Loulabelles, No.1 and the like? I know Loulabelles have a coffee van they put out for weekends and such but this is Peel vs Hub all over again. The easy solution is decent parking where its needed but close enough to town that folk can stroll over for food. That's fine for the DH and a work in progress for the Golfie.
I live near a small Scottish seaside town
I live in one, parking is an issue all year round even when there are no tourists.
Also that article, really? The guy may be a dick but digging up nearly 25yo dirt on someone is kinda sad.
Dick Barton
People will be people – those visiting an area have no real interest in how the locals get by and seem to think the place they are visiting is there for them. Winds me up how much people think consideration and common sense doesn’t need to be used when visiting a place.
Always great to spend money in those places, but not a suitable reason to treat it like it is there purely for their entertainment.
Likewise, the locals will be happy with the increased money coming in to the area, but the downside with that is that there are far more people there and they don’t live in the area so have no real idea of whatever issues/concerns are going on.
Double-edged sword really. However, I do think a bit more consideration by the people visiting the area would be a big start at improving things.
My mild rant isn’t just about Innerleithen, it covers all areas that have an increase in non-locals (tourists and anyone else really) visiting and using the area.
It's a bit more complex as locals themselves form different demographics.
The real complexity is then trying to as you say get a balance but extremists on both sides are always going to be determined to prevent that.
If you own a nice 14 bedroom "cottage" as your second home then your interests are probably quite different to someone renting a flat and trying to bring up 3 kids on minimum wage.
(I'm being deliberately extreme)
How do you balance employment opportunities vs people flooding in?
I've recently been looking at Surrey Hills a bit differently... I guess as I noticed Gomshall Mill pub closed then I realised the one at Abinger Hammer had closed ages ago... and compared to my impressions in the past the A25 corridor is all looking a bit run down. Meanwhile, Coldharour seem to want in on the act.
Mentally I'd sort of correlated this with Inners area... that seems to my outside (MTB tinted) eyes to actually be doing really well.. I get the impression the local MTB haters are more in a minority as they see on one hand employment and incomes and on the other a possible becoming like Gomshall..??
this particular chap does seem to be able to find something to moan about whatever the situation.
but undeniably there are people who are making it easy for him. the other day i saw people riding on pavements on the high street and leithen road, and in both these cases i honestly couldn't work out why they were doing it, other than thoughtlessness.
so yeah, perhaps some better signage reminding people to stay off the pavements would help. it certainly wouldn't do any harm.
whilst andy weir's point is reasonable re people ignoring signs, i find it a bit easier to challenge that sort of behaviour from other riders if there's signs up to reinforce the point. so even if some people won't pay attention to them, it doesn't mean its not worthwhile to have some.
the other day i saw people riding on pavements on the high street and leithen road,
I've just done a street view on Google Maps for those places and find it quite funny that there's barely a a car in sight in any direction. I'm guessing it's not always like that? 😀 (Some people just default to riding on the pavement - maybe less regular riders, or not confident in traffic?)
INNERLEITHEN signs stating: ‘No Cycling on the Pavement’ may put a spoke in the wheel of riders who disregard the law.
Isn't that a good thing? I like having spokes in my wheels.
Inners is a tough one as the main road from Peebles to Galashiels runs through the middle and it's a very small town, maybe some better signage between trail area's would help? It's not the easiest to navigate around the main road if you're not local and might help separate out the bikes/cars/pedestrians.
It is though a definite issue, I drove through at the weekend and a group of 7 bikers rode along the high street pavement before riding out between parked cars into the flow of traffic. I can't say if the driver of the car they sort of merged in front of had to brake as I was going the other way but it looked pretty close. Having previously lived there for 6 months I can confirm this definitely wouldn't be an isolated incident.
First thing I saw on Saturday morning was a group of half a dozen on bikes outside the Coop blocking the pavement completely..
This has just been posted on a local page by a councillor...
The police community action team (CAT) have agreed to look at a few issues that have been raised by local councillors concerning cycling on pavements in Innerleithen, and anti social behaviour in and around the swap and share shed. For these issues to be properly looked at however we need any instances to be reported by telephoning 101, as that will build up a picture of the scale of the problem.
I wish I could buy out the golf course land. Also the whole Golfie. Charge Ebikes a season pass. Start a key club.
It’s not the easiest to navigate around the main road if you’re not local
Ah come on. If people can use Strava and trailforks to find and navigate their way around the trails they can use Google maps to avoid the high street. It all comes down to laziness and thoughtlessness, there's no excuse for adults cycling along and blocking pavements or parking badly.
