Hi all,
as an update – I was there – Project – did you go? You seem quite keen on the proposal – do you not worry at all about the forest experience being ruined by these cabins? As to paraphrase one german sounding guy ‘ it seems to be funny that the FC are encouraging more cars and less trees now..’
There was a TV report on it today as well. The FC will have a fight on their hands this time as other developments have been unopposed.
I went the meeting along with 250 others and the 2 x Fc reps. I really felt for the main FC holiday bloke as he was very genuine but out of his depth re questioning and he got flayed alive by cheshire exec types.
I was assured by him that our access would NOT change at all – however a number of the biking trails will be lost by the placement of these cabins. New trails can evolve etc but the feel of the forest will change.
Some questions were from ‘nimbies’ but an awful lot were normal types -runners / bikers / horsey types ( who are scared of bikes etc – I did my best to talk to them ) and reps from british orienteering who stated that if this goes ahead their competitions will end and nowhere else in cheshire can host them.
In a nutshell – 47 acres of woodland are under threat – a lot of the trees are however near their end of life and the area is a monoculture and ideal for development…. there will be more trees planted to add to the environment..
The FC chap could not answer basic ‘ business plan ‘ questions nor questions regarding lease / enviroment / Co2 studies etc. At one point the guy said access will not be changed nor will the forest character and we can walk where we want – to which a lady said ‘ i cannot walk thru any of these cabins’… they are HUGE in size – think size of a parish hall and not a twee little yurt – some are 2 storeys with treehouses…. If anyone can be bothered to look at the books of Forest holidays – they dont make a huge profit from all their sites combined – its not a lot condsidering their impact…. have a look.
The cabins will cost 1 to 2 k a week to hire and have space for up to 5 people and 2 cars outside on gravel hardstandings – total space for 300 cars. A service fire road will be upgraded to make room for the cars coming and going right through the main central artery of the forest – think about that – noise / disruption and safety aspect – people / horses and dogs / wildlife are at risk from this increased flow of hitherto unprecedented levels of cars – plus all the free parking on thee verges will be prohibited…
Positives for development :
Money into local economy – likely to be chester or frodsham = no local pubs unless you DRIVE through the forest – see above for concerns… the rail links the FC championed are just too far away to have any reaL success in the real world.
15 jobs – mostly from FC grad scheme and all the more menial jobs contracted out – its not going to have a big improvement on local employment in my opinion.
Money into the economy and also for the FC – which is a good thing…
I feel the cabins should be built elsewhere – on a brownfields site – a new visitor centre is def a good idea but bringing that number of cars / people into an already crowded forest is folly in my opinion. I ride / run there for the solitude and I dont want to be dodging cabins every 5 mins or having to look out for cars in an otherwise quiet secluded bit of the wood.
Its ironic that the cabins are being built for the ‘ forest experience ‘ but there very existence impacts that celebrated ‘ experience’. I doubt my night rides will be the same watching badgers and owls when theres a load of brightly lit cabins with cars coming and going all the time.
If anyone is intereted please contact the cadd website / email the FC direct. Watch this space. More info here http://www.cadd.me.uk/
paul
