Council vandals

[Mesquite]

I was out walking the dogs the other day and decided to go along a pleasant woodland bridleway that I often used as it's the nearest bit of woodland to me. The woodland itself isn't much wider than about 40 yards but it's about half a mile long so it's a reasonable size. The path isn't that wide either but perfectly clear enough for horses and walkers to go down without any trouble.

When I got to the entrance I was horrified to see what I can only describe as major road contruction work taking place The path had been widened to nearly three times it's original width and loads of crushed hardcore dumped to form a new path surface.

It's totally destroyed the whole path and I don't think I'll be going down it any time soon What makes it worse is it's on the route back from another favourite walk so I can't exactly not avoid seeing it regularly

 

[Shewie]

Are there plans to deforest it Steve, maybe the wider access is for getting service vehicles up. Are there any works going on at either end ?

It looks a bit excessive for horses.

 

[jojo]

Not much left of the wood then. They just can't leave nature alone can they. That just looks a mess. They did the same thing near the river here, about a 100 yards of a path along the river bank was coverd by what they dredged from a ditch, now its a 100 yards of sticky, gloopy mess. That's nature conservation, council style....

 

[leaf man]

it could also be for machinery to get onsite for repairs such as pit cracks. i know there are problems similar to this in wombwell woods, i was logging the areas with the rangers only yesterday

 

[tobes01]

Hmm. Councils can make a lot of money dumping hardcore on paths, owner of local estate has been paid to have footpaths massacred with heaps of hardcore simply so the council can get away without landfilling it. None of the paths actually go anywhere...

 

[Toddy]

I know it looks awful, but by Summer it'll be much less intrusive and it'll be dry underfoot come Autumn and Winter.
It looks like loose stuff so it will allow roots to penetrate, the edges will blur, mosses and grasses and weeds will seed into it. Give it a little time.
Dreadful though it seems just now.

At least they didn't tarmac it, trail bikers hate that hardcore 'cos it spatters them and their friend with stones, and knackers their bikes.

I hate when a favourite walk feels as though it's been trashed, but over the years I've realised nothing lasts forever.

aatb,
M

 

[Tadpole]

There is a 6 mile stretch of cycle path only a few hundred yards from my home, which has been “tided up”. The contractors have cut down a several hundred 20 year + wild self seeded oak, beech, elder, ash, apple, hazel, plum, apricot, cherry, and replaced them with 20 foot high piles of wood chipping and about two dozen three year old poplar trees, and six seat/benches . Last year you could walk/cycle/run the whole of the six miles and have shade and wild life to look at, now all you have to look at is the back garden and dumped rubbish that is already accumulating in the mud where once trees stood.
I’m not sure what was in the mind of the counsellor that though it was better to cut down literally hundreds of the tall well established trees and replace them with trees that a six year old could snap.
I’ll give it a few years but I suspect the whole route will be covered in tar and fenced in, to stop locals using it, which is the councils preferred option.
They would just love to make it into a light rail/tram/way from the heart of Bath, to the heart of Bristol. No danger of the wrong kind of leaf on the line if there are no trees.

 

[hiho]

they have done the same to the lcoal TPT.... now about 3 feet wider and all tarmac

 

[Alexlebrit]

If you're sure it's the council that's done it and not the landowner (of course they could be one and the same) then register your displeasure with the relevant councillor. You're in Hemel Hempstead?

If so your contact is:

http://www.dacorum.gov.uk

Address:
Cupid Green Depot
Redbourn Road
Hemel Hempstead
HP2 7BA

Telephone: 01442 228529
Fax: 01442 228884

Contact: Vanessa Johnson
Email: vanessa.johnson@dacorum.gov.uk

The only way councillors will know there's been a ***k up is when their constituents tell them, chances are they don't even realise half the time.

 

[Mang]

On the council theme the trees along the A roads near me have had a prune, wellI say a prune...Two tractors, one armed with a huge circular saw and one with a recangular sort of strimmer have massacred the trees and left ragged stumps and large patches of pulled bark. It looks awful and I bet the trees (will soon) feel awful too.

 

[verloc]

There are some woods in Fife that Stooboy and myself have used quite a bit and they have a similar thing there - we spoke to a couple working on the land one morning when we were walking out after a weekend there and it turns out that it was done by the landowner as he planned to fell and sell.

 

[Jusali]

Paved paradise and put up a parking lot!