Bristol folk. I’ve been tipped off that there’s a scheme in the works to enclose the Ashton Court golf course cafe, bike shop and car park with a substantial fence – similar to the sort of thing that’s currently around the deer park. Apparently it’ll cost a cool 20 grand. More details here: http://bristoltrails.tumblr.com/post/142348131988/dont-fence-me-in

I’m still trying to establish how near this is to going ahead, and who (if anyone) has signed it off. It’s not mentioned in the estate management plan, and the people we normally deal with don’t have any knowledge of it, so it may get nipped in the bud.

In the meantime, if you don’t like the idea of starting a ride in a space that feels like a correctional facility, drop them an email on bristolparks@bristol.gov.uk and let them know. Please be diplomatic as we’re currently trying to get the trails network extended, and folk at the council are making some very positive noises. It just seems like some of them haven’t got the memo.

So you’ll end up with a fence in field of view? Not sure what the problem is? Are you losing trails?

Problems from people riding ‘off piste’ causing this?

Why would this be an issue? 😕

Eskay, yes apparently the golf course guys are pushing hard for it as there is an ongoing issue with people short cutting across the rough. This isn’t just a mountain bike problem, loads of walkers do it too,
but apparently the fence is going to feature gates, so golfers can access the course. Even if they have quite strongly worded signs, people who’ve been walking that way for years will probably continue to do so.

Why would this be an issue?

I set out the reasons why I don’t think it’s a good idea at the link above, but there are two main ones: it’ll change the feel of what was a big, lovely open space at the top of the estate. Some parts of the estate are fenced, but mostly because they contain deer.

£20k would also go a long way in other parts of the estate, a lot of which is looking pretty shabby.

I do wonder if people* cutting across is causing a problem, why don’t they spend 20k building a path across there? Then people will naturally keep on the path instead?

*i’ll admit I’ve done it before, don’t see the harm. Did get called an urban terrorist by a middle aged lady mind.

Might be worth tweeting George. He’s pretty good at responding. Seems daft that there isn’t a proper path from behind the hut towards the rugby pitch. Saves going down the narrow access road then back up the hill.

A formal path would certainly sort out a lot of the issues. I’m not sure it’s a goer though, as the margins of the golf course are basically wild flower meadow, and putting a hard surface over part of it wouldn’t make the ecologists happy. That was the reason why the mountain bike trail went back into the woods after “officially” running along the edge of the meadow for a few years.

If you go up and have a look at the site, there’s very little in the way of positive signage to the start of the trail. Just some “keep off the golf course” signs which people keep ripping down. I’d rather they explored that sort of option first before turning the whole area into a cattle pen.

It’s always a few, ruining it for others.

It is amazing how when you ride a new official place there’s often a lack of signage to actually get you to the start of the trails – seems like one of those “can’t see the wood for the trees” situations! A fence seems like a proper sledgehammer to crack a nut solution…

Fencegate update!

I’ve received a response from Bristol City Council which says the fencing will be “unobtrusive” and is needed to protect the grassland habitat on the Plateau.

From the response it seems that this isn’t just a problem with cyclists – there are users of all types wandering across the grassland, stepping on wild flowers and disturbing nesting birds.

It’s good to get a response, but there is no way you could call a 1.2m fence “unobtrusive” (the existing wooden railing is only 50cm high) and I am still concerned that it doesn’t address the issues.

If there are gates through the fence, how will it stop people from continuing to wander where they like once they’ve gone through the gate?

It’s obvious that users are following a “desire line” to the start of the trail, so why not formalise this into a proper trail?

Full response below:

======================

Dear Estate User

We have received your communication regarding concerns relating to the installation of a fence around the car park and golf/cycle hub building at the Golf car park. We are currently looking into this for the following reasons:

1. To protect the grasslands on the plateau, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Bristol City Council are paid through the Higher Level Stewardship scheme by Natural England to manage these grasslands in a particular way, and the continued impact a variety of users are having on this are affecting the nationally important and protected grasslands.

2. As users don’t always keep to the walkways they can impact on the skylarks which nest in the grasslands, trying to minimise their disturbance is extremely important to their breeding success.

3. As users don’t always keep to paths there is an increased risk of injury to those users from the golf activities that are taking place in the area. This also affects the enjoyment of golf players as they have concerns for other users and it slows down their game.

Currently we are looking at installing a 1.2m fence that is the same as the other estate fencing around the car park and the golf/cycle hub. This fencing is unobtrusive and should not affect views across the estate and summer flower meadows. The plan is to include a couple of entrances onto the plateau and towards the miniature railway and trail. As part of this we want to understand how users particularly cyclists cross the plateau and will be engaging with pedal progression over the next few days to get this information and this will impact the final design of the fencing and location of access point. We will also look to add further directional way markers to show users the safest and way of least disturbance way across the area.

We hope that the proposals will have minimal impact on users and will ensure the future of the summer flower meadows and our resident skylarks.

So the golfists can wander all over the SSSI as much as they like but everyone else has to stick to the paths?

I can’t remember exactly how the golf course is laid out, mainly because last time we played there my mate brought a bottle of Sailor Jerry. But I think it’s designed to stop people trampling over the floweriest parts.

Pretty much the whole estate is an SSSI. That doesn’t mean that people aren’t allowed to use it, but it does mean there are certain aspects of it that they are legally obliged to protect.