Letter: 'Fuming over removal of safety gate at park'

To say that I am fuming about this action is an understatement.

I have been using Whitecliff and Baiter park to walk my children and my dogs for over 20 years. The original introduction of a mixed cycleway was a disaster for many pedestrians.

I personally know several people who have literally been run over by arrogant adult cyclists, one ended up in hospital.

I myself have had many near misses. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of the abuse put out by cyclists who think you are in their way and who don’t want to slow down.

They think they have the right of way and can travel along a path at whatever speed they like with immunity. I realise that this isn’t the majority of cyclists, but it only takes a few to ruin a lovely park and only one to inflict harm.

The users of the park wanted a separate cycleway far away from the pedestrian path. Instead, we have a cycleway that runs alongside the original path that not only looks like a motorway, ruining the look of the park forever, but will be used by the cyclists as such.

The cyclepath is right next to the original path where children, walkers and the dogs will be walking, crossing between the path and the field, what’s left of it. They will now have to cross the cyclepath to do this.

What measures are being taken by the council to limit the speed of the cyclists? None, I imagine, no sign of any speed limit signs on the cycleway so far.

Even if they are put in place, who is going to enforce them? Not the police, we have had this problem before, they are not interested, always saying it is up to the council to deal with this problem. When complaining to the council, also not really interested.

The main problem being that cyclist is untraceable, once he’s abused the other park users and moved on it’s too late. He’s gone, no name, no number plate to track him, no trace.

The council have designed a cycleway through the park, clearly, without anyone in mind except cyclists.

If they had actually been to the park, watched who used it and more importantly, how they used it, this plan wouldn’t have seen the light of day.

It’s clearly too late to change the placement of the new cyclepath now that it is finished but it is not too late to change the route of the second part of the cyclepath which is planned to continue around the bay.

The council should take the opportunity to look at this plan carefully and get it changed before the rest of the park is ruined.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, now they have removed the gate and part of the fence by Keyhole Bridge leaving a gaping hole in a part of the park that was previously a safe section.

Most of the park is not safe as there are no fences in many places. The very busy Sandbanks Road is only separated from the park by boulders – picturesque but no barrier to running children and dogs.

The main field of Whitecliff has some fencing but many open paths to the road, so no safety there either. The only section that was a safe place to let children and dogs run was from the skate park to the children’s playpark.

This is clearly no longer true. I was informed by one of the workers at the site that the opening is to make it easier for the cyclists to come into the new cyclepath from the road.

Of course it is, but what will slow them down – nothing. They can do up to 30 miles per house on the road, and will come into the park at any speed they fancy. Straight into a child or a walker or a dog.

The existence of a gate, would mean they have to dismount to enter the park and that will slow them down and remind them they are no longer on the road and that they should reduce their speed significantly.

NICOLA ALLEN

Woodside Road, Parkstone