Leckhampton Hill - Disaster

[LLB]

'UNSAFE' CYCLE JUMPS WILL GO
Date : 28.02.08

Homemade bike jumps near Leckhampton Hill are set to be removed for safety.Many ramblers, dog walkers and birdwatchers head for the Daisybank Fields to soak in their natural surroundings.

But there are fears that a BMX track used by mountain bikers is becoming dangerous.

Several earth mounds, some as high as 7ft, have been built on the track and are used as jumps by riders.

Coun Chris Ryder, Cheltenham Borough Council cabinet member for quality of life, said it was flattening some of the bigger jumps because they are not safe or stable.

"The fields are there for the public and we want people to be able to enjoy themselves and have a good time, but be safe," said Coun Ryder.

"Cheltenham Borough Council is mindful of legal and insurance liability obligations for the safety of all the public who use Daisybank Fields and the hill."

The area was not intended for mountain biking but hordes take advantage of the steep slopes.

Coun Ryder said: "It's not that we want to spoil people's fun but we have to adhere to guidelines.

"There will be future discussions with experienced bikers to see how future modifications could be built for the enjoyment of all."

Judy Frazer-Holland, chairman of the Friends of Leckhampton Hill said the jumps were a concern.

"Certainly it is something we were discussing as a group," she said.

"We support young people doing exercise and getting out and about but obviously when it causes difficulty to other people it can be a problem.

"Cheltenham Borough Council has an insurance policy and if the jumps are deemed unsafe on its land then it can remove them."

 

[Globalti]

What bollocks.

 

[LLB]

The 'Friends of Leckhampton Hill' are a bunch of nimby local home owners.

I've used these courses a few times and the riders come from all over to use the tracks on the hilllside. I'd say it is probably a bunch of ramblers kicking up about it.

 

[02GF74]

quite right too.

I'm too scared to do jumps so won't affect me

 

[User482]

I'm not so sure. We have an area near Cheddar, Rowberrow Warren, which over the last 18months or so has transformed from testing single track downhilly fun, to near suicidal 6 foot jumps and huge roll offs. This has really ruined the area for most of the local riders without huge travel full-sussers. The downhillers even moan when you try to get past them going back up the hill!!! So I can see why the locals are moaning, having some whooping loon flying over your head while taking Fido for a walk must be quite worrying.

I know what you mean. I think that when we get to a point where public trails are inaccessible to all but the very few with the machinery meant for world cup downhill circuits, then the balance has tipped too far.

 

[LLB]

I think its the thin end of the wedge, and not long before the same NIMBY are demanding a ban on cycling on the hill completely

 

[02GF74]

if it is on anything but a bridleway, BOAT or RUPP then they have every right to unfortunatley.

 

[simonali]

Thee are some woods near me where the young uns go on their BMXs and MTBs and they have built up a lot of jumps and stuff over the last few years. I was walking the dog thru there last summer and caught sight of how they do it.

What they were doing was snapping young trees off at the roots, building a pile of now dead trees and then covering said pile with mud. I took umbrage to the damage they were doing to the trees and confronted them only to realise after I'd opened my big mouth that there was 4 of them and they were all bigger than me!

Luckily I didn't get my head kicked in and hopefully my point that if they kept killing the trees there might not be a wood there much longer for them to ride in sank into their teenyweeny brains?