An online petition objecting to a new “mini-Glentress” mountain bike park has reached almost 350 signatures.
Residents of Dumbiedykes and St Leonard’s in Edinburgh, Scotland, have been divided over the plans to build an asphalt pump track in the urban woodland area.
The campaign to build the skills park – known as ‘The Skelf’ – has a 25-year lease on the area, but disgruntled residents claim they were never consulted and that they only became aware of the plans after 70 trees in the area were cleared.
The charity, Braidwood Bikepark Group, states it did carry out all of the necessary consultation required to finalise the plans.
Almost 350 signatures have been collected and the petition will know be sent to Communities Minister Alex Neil.
Objectors to the plans believe that the park would exclude residents who do not cycle but still require the park for its health benefits.
“The area is needed for physical and mental wellbeing for all the nearby residents, living in high rise and low rise flats,” residents have said in the online petition.
“Now there is a bike park development happening without local people knowing anything about it.
“Consultation was kept to a finely calculated minimum, and an arrangement for just one person on the council to approve planning consent, sealed the deal.”
You can read the argument against the park in full here. The counterargument in support of the park may be found here.
Why did they have to cut all the trees down?? A bike park could co-exist with some of the trees which there aren’t enough of in cities, I’d be really pissed off too if I was a resident. Bet it had something to do with wet leaves on the tarmac breaching health and safety laws! Nice to see it being used for a bike park but I think they went about it the wrong way…
They didn’t cut all the trees down. They cut down 70 of 500 and have plans to plant 200 new ones.
Oh the petition is talking bolx then (no surprises there!), it said they were all cut down…
kipvr – have a look at the “The Site” page on the Skelf’s web site. The trees that have been cut down were in the area where the pump track is going to be built. From the site plan on that page it can be seen that this is a fairly small proportion of the total woodland area.
As an aside, it’s slightly amusing that both the pro and anti campaigns are on 38 degrees.
Amazing how the local residents could know nothing about this despite the fact that it’s been all over the mainstream press for the past couple of years. Oh – and they need an outdoor are for physical and mental wellbeing? It’s on the edge of the Royal Park and Arthur’s Seat – how much more open space do you need?
Could someone at stw towers link in the petition for the park, rather than just the one against it?
+1 for @bigjim’s suggestion. Not really a fair way of doing things.