The owners of the old Station House at Lintz Green in Gateshead thought it might be a good idea to open a small cafe to serve the passing trade on the Derwent Walk near Gateshead, this former railway line being much used by cyclists, walkers, horseriders etc. Also as a community facility for meetings, concerts, talks etc. There is no proper road access so they weren’t trying to attract passing motorists..
This resulted in 55 letters of objection from the public. The Planning Officer summarised them in the council agenda. There were a few grumbles about the architecture, questions about access, noise etc. Then what appears to be a list of increasingly fatuous concerns cooked up at a brainstorming session of aerated locals. I haven’t listed all of them but these are some of my favourites (with my italics):

 What would happen to the proposal if the café is unviable and fails?
 No staff toilet is proposed.
 The Council should be ready to pay compensation for broken bones if this
proposal is granted, the walk has loose stones, can be uneven underfoot and
there are some deep banks to the sides.
 An intoxicated person could fall in the lake or lose their way.
 Attracting the wrong clientele.
 May encourage drink driving.
 Criminals could wait in the woods for people walking home from their evening
out.
 It is not clear whether the proposal will be a vegetarian / vegan café.
 A community hub is not required given the small number of residents.
 The proposal is for personal profit above any other consideration.
 People feed our horses bread, this will increase and is a safety concern.
 Horses are fright and flight animals and will spook at being able to see
movement in a glass building.
 If a spooked horse kicks a child who would be liable.
 My nervous dog likes to use this currently quiet end of the Derwent Walk.
 65-80 horses are stabled nearby and would be restricted.
 I have been chased by dogs and nearly hit by cyclists when riding, this risk will
increase if the café goes ahead.
 Horse riders, dog walkers and cyclists would all be at risk of increased traffic.
 Affect on wildlife; nesting birds, horses and sheep.
 Proposal is out of character in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. (It isn’t in an AONB).
 The proposal falls in a Conservation Area or very close to it.(No it doesn’t/isn’t)

Then the British Horse Society, who should no better, launched in:
“The proposal would severely restrict or prevent historical access to the Derwent Walk due to reflecting light, movement of bikes and people, aromas from food. Visitors could be trampled, kicked or bitten. Bolting horses could lead to a fatality. Litter and noise would further startle a horse.”
So the smell of a bacon sandwich could directly lead a horse to killing someone. Amazing.

Have they been getting ideas from the saga of that café down near Windsor?

Being generous with my tolerance, having seen the shocking way some cyclists act around horses, I can see a small element of concern around that issue. But what a great opportunity for the horsey types to do some proactive work on educating people on how to pass safely and, you know, share the trails? (I’m in no way bitter that a group of volunteers at a FC site built a corral so the horsey types could “park” and use the café, but the horsey types contributed 0 hours to the project)

You say “no proper road access” – we have a café near us on the Nutbrook Trail with no vehicle access within a mile. A couple of idiots have tried on the bridleway and got stuck, otherwise the village and cul de sac that are the two nearest road access points get very clogged up at weekends, making life difficult for the residents.

I’m not saying any of the above is grounds to refuse permission, but they are things that might need to be considered.

^ And they were. The cafe won’t be allowed a sign from the road down the access track. Their opening hours were cut back from 10pm to 6pm. I think they got conditional permission but whether they’ll take it up given the limitations I don’t know.

I thought the application was approved over a year ago…

Did the Cafe open or not?

Not seen any hilarious comments, just the usual things people will claim when trying to object to planning – some of them (such as there being no staff toilet and there being no need for a community hub) could be seen as being entirely reasonable.

“No staff toilet”. Do they suppose the staff will be expected to shit in the woods?

Did the Cafe open or not?

I went past yesterday and still no cafe. Very dangerous though, with stones and banks.

That’s making me think that there should be much greater restrictions on horses.

If only this kind of energy and creativity could be harnessed in service of something more socially beneficial, like getting the Tories out, eh?

Not sure that owning a nervous dog is sufficient reason to refuse planning permission.

You can help the NIMBYs by pointing out the regular carnage that happens weekly in Scotland with the trails being used by the lower classes.

Why, every week a baby robin gets its faced crushed by a careless walker, a small child falls intoxicated into the ditch and is only saved by Boris’s body blocking it, and horses bolt all over the place because they have seen a reflection in the local loch.

These are undisputed facts… 🙂

I’m on the outer edges of being involved in something that a load of nimby horse riders are objecting to…. They are some utterly childish, selfish, self centred, angry, pathetic ****** so I can totally (and sadly) understand that those are genuine gripes from them

**** ‘em

If, like the horse rider nimbys I mention, they have a Facebook page (oh they will) where they whip each other up in to a froth then go on and troll them/tell them how utterly pathetic they are

**** ‘em

Not seen any hilarious comments, just the usual things people will claim when trying to object to planning – some of them (such as there being no staff toilet and there being no need for a community hub) could be seen as being entirely reasonable.

If you are not amused by the prospect of armed brigands robbing homeward-bound revellers, or an intoxicated person falling in the lake, then you are dead to me, johndoh.
Incidentally, there was a heinous crime committed at this very railway station, in 1911, when the station master was shot dead. Nobody was ever tried for the murder….

Some of the people in this country make me want to cry.

I do thank them for pointing out how dangerous horses are though. I think we need much tighter legislation around these unhinged beasts.

Or just better trained horses? Touring round holland I passed two horses that did not spook at all seeing a bike

I do thank them for pointing out how dangerous horses are though. I think we need much tighter legislation around these unhinged beasts.

I do wonder, if a horse caused an incident and injured/damaged a dog/walker/cyclist/car and the owner was shown to be the type to post “my horse is scared of ……… and become a danger to everyone so everyone should accommodate me” type stuff. Could they be held criminally culpable for the incident for taking 600kg of Findus Lasagne and glue out in public knowing it was an uncontrollable risk to other people?

I love horses, horse riders on the other hand……….

It’s not just horse riders to be fair, it’s just NIMBYs in general.

I live in a semi-rural area, but there is a row of new-ish houses nearby where there used to be a farm shed (hence these got planning permission maybe a decade ago).

Another planning application went in last year for a plot adjacent to aforementioned new builds. The objections from all the residents of the existing new builds were hilarious. Moaning about loss of natural beauty etc. The irony of moaning about new builds destroying the natural beauty of an area when you yourself live in a new build in the middle of a post-industrial (farming) landscape was totally lost on them.

I also have to deal with people who have chosen to live in a woodland area moaning about trees, sadly have to bite my tongue when speaking to them

I’m on the outer edges of being involved in something that a load of nimby horse riders are objecting to

Local to us?
Were you up by the main road this morning in your tractor/truck thing?

It must have been carnage at Lintz Green when it was a working railway station. For about the first 60 years all the passengers and freight had to be brought in and out on foot or by horse and cart. All those steam engines puffing and whistling, bells ringing, doors slamming; and yet a rider could be pitched off the bridge by a horse spooked by “light reflecting on glass “. There must have been daily fatalities.

I live on the edge of a city. Land that was fields about 20 years ago. They are now building more houses on the other side of ours, on land that was also fields. The people who live in the houses built on fields 20 years ago object to the houses being built on fields now. So it’s ok for you to buy a nice new house on a greenfield site, but not anyone else? Ok, got it… If you object so much to the building of houses on greenfield sites why the f did you buy one?

Isn’t the point of planning to look into possible problems in creating something that wasn’t there before ?
Certainly some of the objections are laughable, but

“The proposal would severely restrict or prevent historical access to the Derwent Walk due to reflecting light, movement of bikes and people, aromas from food. Visitors could be trampled, kicked or bitten.

Horses were there first and perhaps the cafe could cause a problem for them that didn’t exist before.
I’d hope the planning process would look into any concerns properly, but also discount them if shown to be unfounded.

Local to us?
Were you up by the main road this morning in your tractor/truck thing?

Yup, we’ve spoken about it before on here
Yes I was, tidying up after the conker tree

Ah over the edge then.
I flicked the v’s at you as I drove past. 😵

I feel like a good start to trolling their facebook page would be something along the lines of:

‘I’ve just moved in to the area from London and whilst I do not have any experience of horses, is it right that such powerful, unpredictable and dangerous animals be allowed in public areas?’

“no proper road access”

Heaven forbid they visit the cafe at Ingleton Falls!

so the mere presence of a piece of litter can cause a horse to kick a small child to death, and yet a “cafe” is the problem?

Demonstrating terrific logical reasoning there aren’t they 🙂

I’d hope the planning process would look into any concerns properly

The planning process looks at whether the development meets the criteria in the Local Plan, together with any national guidance. Unless the objection can be tied to a policy, it won’t be treated as a “material consideration”, ie, it won’t be considered. Always assuming that planning officers and (if it goes to Committee) the Councillors actually follow the process.

I love horses, horse riders on the other hand……….

So that’s the problem with me !

I ride once or twice week on trails shared with MTBers, motocrossers, walkers… and have the attitude it’s up to me to keep the horse under control and not be a danger to others. I know some things frighten the one horse I ride, quads and farm machinery, and get the horse away from people if I hear one coming – in fact the horse is usually refusing to advance long before I hear them because horses have fantastic hearing.

So yes, the British Horse Society should know better.

I’m often pleasantly surprised at how considerate people are around horses. MTBers slow down and wait to be beckoned through, a motocrosser we pass regularly heads off into the undergrowth and cuts his engine.

The horse society or whatever theyre called are the biggest bunch of shit stirrers I’ve ever come across and they somehow seem to wield quite a bit of leverage.
Caused me a whole load of shit on one particular job, they want nothing but countryside but want it sanatising at the same time, ****!

That’s making me think that there should be much greater restrictions on horses.

Me too! I always stop and give them room. Mainly because they are giant, very strong, stupid and unpredictable animals and I’m wary of the buggers. Like cows only with people perched on top of them.

It’s the people being perched on them that are the problem. I encounter loads of wild horses (and a few cows) on pretty much every ride and they are all fine and don’t get spooked as I ride by.

Yet meet one with a rider on and I have to slow down to 3mph or get loads of grief as “the horse doesn’t like bikes”. I was even up a ladder once doing my hedge and a horse rider moaned at me because their horse doesn’t like ladders!

I long for the day that cyclists get the same respect on the roads that the horse riders do…

Horses were there first and perhaps the cafe could cause a problem for them that didn’t exist before.

Actually, trains were there first as it’s a disused railway line. 🙂

The Derwent Walk is, and has been for years used by walkists, runnists, cyclists and yes, horsists. I wouldn’t imagine that the cafe would increase the use of the trail by any of these users. It’s busy enough on a sunny sunday morning as it is.

Where we live the cycling, walking and horse riding brigade all seem to get along very well.

There have however been problems with people coming into the area who aren’t locals, who seem to treat the bridleways as though it were a trail centre. So for the first time in 20 years I heard a horse rider complain. He now says he can no longer take his horse out at the weekend here.

As someone who owned a horse, walks in the countryside a lot and rides mtbikes, it is hardest to control a horse. They cannot be trained to perfection and can spook at the weirdest of things. They are to be respected.

However the cafe sounds a great idea and would probably be an asset to the local area.

To be fair, all that guff in the OP isn’t really reflective of horse riders’ attitudes in general. Reads more like the work of a particularly imaginative and melodramatic individual.

To be fair to horse riders using the Derwent Walk, some cyclists that use the Derwent Walk are dicks. Being a disused railway line, it’s straight, reasonably well surfaced, and (if you’re riding west to east) slightly downhill. Not a great combination for controlling speed if you’re not a considerate type.

This cafe would in no way make that situation worse though.

To be fair to horse riders using the Derwent Walk, some cyclists that use the Derwent Walk are dicks.

To be fair to horse riders, most of the concerns weren’t much to do with bikes. It was just like a whole group of people got together, decided they didn’t want A cafe near them and then had to come up with reasons why not.

Yes, I agree. It does make you wonder sometimes what motivates people to be so negative.

It reminds me of wise words from my DAD years ago, when i fancied a girl at school who was the horse type but she had rejected me. “They are the untouchable on the uneatable that only associate with their own kind ” “Don’t bother with her son there’s plenty more fish in the sea.”

Dad was wise i think .

as a non-horsist I’ve never heard a good explanation of what happened to animals that were taken into battle for centuries and now seemingly have a breakdown if a gnat farts within a three county radius?

as a non-horsist I’ve never heard a good explanation of what happened to animals that were taken into battle for centuries and now seemingly have a breakdown if a gnat farts within a three county radius?

Rider ability, training and conditioning.

First up you need a good enough rider to be able to control the horse, realise what is going on and react appropriately, not get scared themselves and have the ability to train the horse.

Next you need to put in the time to train and condition the horse. They are naturally scared of everything falling very much into the flight category of self preservation. They will spook and bolt unless they are trained to trust the rider and have been conditioned to things they will meet while being ridden.

In my experience of riding if you tense up, the horse will to. If you stay relaxed the horse picks up on this and relax as well.