Inversnaid cyclepath - NIMBY tossers

Halfman Halfbiscuit
Halfman Halfbiscuit Posts: 30
edited March 2012 in Campaign
It never fails to surprise me how joyless and obstructionist the British can be when it comes to many aspects of life but especially cycle provision;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-t ... l-15817477

I can't believe they are halting construction of this path due to the views and privacy of ONE house being in question (although what that 'privacy' issue will entail I do not know, the path is in the Highlands, possibly half a dozen people, tops, cycling by each hour on a summer day at the bottom of their garden).

If it was a tarmaced A class road they wouldn't have given a toss. Priceless.

Here's a link to their contact page, please keep it clean;

http://www.strathard.org.uk/contact_us.html

Comments

  • El Gordo
    El Gordo Posts: 394
    Halfman Halfbiscuit wrote:
    If it was a tarmaced A class road they wouldn't have given a toss. Priceless.

    I have a feeling that if someone started building an A-road through Inversnaid there'd be more than a couple of tents out in protest.

    It sounds like they've rather missed the boat on the planning front so they'll be lucky if anything gets changed now but I can understand their point of view. All they are after is the route to be shifted by 20 metres. It's doesn't seem that unreasonable.
  • Halfman Halfbiscuit
    Halfman Halfbiscuit Posts: 30
    I disagree, If a two lane road was built to Inversnaid the locals would be the last people to protest, so in thrall are most people to the car.

    I also disagree with your point that they have reasonable grounds for protest. As you said, they missed the boat at the planning stage. So they've decided to throw their dummy out the pram and opt for mob rule (well, 6 people and a tent). It's not reasonable to stop construction of a cycle path, wasting time and public money, because it passes at the bottom of someones garden. I live in the city, people pass 3 feet from my front window all day long, I accept it and get on with life.

    Neither is it practical, the design, surveying, materials and labour have all be costed. The delays and redesign would all cost extra (public money) just to please the resident of 1 house.

    It's basically people who have moved to the country not wanting the view from their garden or out of their front window 'spoiled' by passing walkers and cyclists (ie ghastly outsiders).
  • El Gordo
    El Gordo Posts: 394
    Halfman Halfbiscuit wrote:
    I disagree, If a two lane road was built to Inversnaid the locals would be the last people to protest, so in thrall are most people to the car.

    Have you been to Inversnaid? A main road would completely change the character of the place. It's just a guess but I'd assume that anyone who has a house there likes the remoteness and privacy and they are keen to preserve that. You chose to live in a city so of course you have to accept people walking past your window but that doesn't mean everyone should have to.

    I wasn't saying that camping out in protest is a reasonable thing to do - they've failed to get anything altered during the planning stage so yes, now they should just accept it. All I was saying was that they are not militant anti-cyclists worth getting wound up about, they just want the path to be in a slightly different place.
  • Omar Little
    Omar Little Posts: 2,010
    Had wondered what the building work was there, will be good if you can now do a full loop of Loch Katrine when it is finished.
  • Halfman Halfbiscuit
    Halfman Halfbiscuit Posts: 30
    "Have you been to Inversnaid?"

    Not sure if that's a rhetorical question but I'll answer it anyway. Yes, many times, in fact I cycled through Glen Arklet only a few months ago.

    "I wasn't saying that camping out in protest is a reasonable thing to do"

    Yet you initially said their demands don't "seem that unreasonable". Hmm.

    "they are not...worth getting wound up about"

    If your measure of "getting wound up" is posting a few opinions on the internet then you are as bad as me.

    Look, at the end of the day you're right, I'm wrong. Whatever...
  • El Gordo
    El Gordo Posts: 394
    Halfman Halfbiscuit wrote:
    Whatever...

    Well, at least we agree on one thing. :D
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Those shaggy protesting cows are awesome.
    I don't do smileys.

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  • bearfraser
    bearfraser Posts: 435
    "White Settlers" complaining again perchance ?
  • rake
    rake Posts: 3,204
    per se move the cycle track 20 yards back. job done.per se
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    I get this sort of thing all the time in my line of work. People get plenty of opportunity to raise their objections through what is a heavily procedural planning process. They either fail to object at the correct time or have their objections over-ruled but still manage to disrupt projects once they legally commence. The first type in particular really annoy me but the worst culprits are the local authority's who are too scared to say "you've had your chance and missed it / were over-ruled so it's too late now".

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