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Responded!
In Halifax but its localish to be interesting so I completed the survey.
I just completed it live in cottingley work in bradford
Where are Bradford's areas of Woodland though? Ok I know there are small pockets of woodland all over, but none of them are large enough to do commercial tree felling or cycle routes etc...?
Some reasonable sized bits around FD (as you probably know)- Judy Woods, Fulneck, Esholt, Calverley for example - all would certainly be commercially viable, and most of them have some good bits of riding in them 😉
Don't forget that Bradford "district" is blinking massive!
Funkydunc - in answer to your question http://www.singletraction.co.uk/projects.php?page=Buck%20Wood.
The corridor along the canal with the woodlands along it and features such as Salts mill could easily encompass a lengthy and probably quite good network of cycle paths. The trouble with Bradford is it's not flat so can be a baptism of fire for the unfit.
Don't forget that Bradford isn't just the city. The district encompasses a much wider area, e.g. Ilkley.
Where are Bradford's areas of Woodland though? Ok I know there are small pockets of woodland all over, but none of them are large enough to do commercial tree felling or cycle routes etc...?
That is incorrect. We (SingletrAction) are actively involved with potential trail developments in two of Bradfords woods. They control plenty of large areas of land / woodland and the scale of operations or size of a site needed dependst on exactly what you want to do. Sure it's probably not enough to do commercial forestry like your typical FC operation but there's still scope.
Also, piecemeal development of smaller trail areas, accessible to all and then linked by PROW is perfectly feasible. Many people riding in Airedale do exactly that by using the canal and dipping in and out of the various woods (Calverley, Thackley, Esholt etc). Creating permissible trails should at least open up and/or formalise current "trails" that aren't legit. Hopefully it'll actually add more technical trails.
I think the futures bright and making efforts to ensure there's some mention of MTBing in the district's Plan will be much better than there being none.
Oi, J - you stuck it on the main site and FB / Google+ yet?
😉
... and pp7 of the consultation draft:
"Bradford Council is the single largest woodland owner in the District (see map) with 111 sites (74 woods, 37 parks) [b]totalling 857 hectares[/b] (590 woodland, 267 parks) managed as woodland.
In 2003 a further 703 hectares of woodland was owned by a wide range of private or charitable owners, however, planting schemes by the Council, Forest of Bradford and other land owners and community groups are believed to have increased the amount of woodland cover in the district to a figure in the range of 5 -10%."
Not to be sniffed at.
"Many people riding in Airedale do exactly that by using the canal and dipping in and out of the various woods (Calverley, Thackley, Esholt etc). Creating permissible trails should at least open up and/or formalise current "trails" that aren't legit."
By formalising them though, I hope that wouldnt mean any change to them? The woods you mention have been used for decades by bikers, and to be honest its one thing I love about the area that bikers/walkers/horseist on the whole get very well on together, and there appears to be a very relaxed approach to where you can ride. I just worry that if Bradford Council formalise things then these currently fantastic tracks will ger sanitised?
Dont get me wrong I'm not against the fantastic work that Singletraction do.
Fair point. It's not what I meant when I wrote that but I can see how it could read that way.
The appraoch you describe is not the intention from meetings that I've intended, IMO. There are spots where user conflict might mean changes / compromises but I'd hope that in doing so the changes amount to more than what is being "sacrificed". Plus we're not involved in things at all those locations.
TBH, what people do now and enjoy is unlikely to change. What is hopped by adding stuff is more trail, that itself will be formally recognised, so it's more likely to persist.
In all our proposals though we advocate sharing and consequently that all users do so responsibly with due consideration to each other. Personally I reckon it's easier to get people on side with this sort of thinking. It's my stock answer to the (non riding) people who complain about bikes being where they "shouldn't be" and "terrorising" others.
In a parrallel universe I'd be looking to create dedicated MTB trails but the reality is people walk on trails envisioned for bikes and bikes ride on paths designated for walkers. In our small world I think we have to (and will probably improve our lot more quickly) by advocating responsible sharing.
Soap Box!!
😎
FunkyDunc
One of the projects is effectively in my(and Mugboo's^) back garden, trails that we have ridden for years in the same manner as you. So, I have some concerns as well, as I'm sure one or two other local SingletrAction members do.
However, It seems Bradford Council want to start things moving with MTB in certain places and I would far rather have SingletrAction (local MTBers who like trail building) leading it, than some faceless contractor or BradMet architect. So far, we've managed to propose completely new trail, so what you're talking about hasn't come up as an issue yet, it will do tho, I expect.
You should not assume that it's just 'trail centre' construction, most stuff will be formalising access agreements with private landowners and Bradford Council and written MTB Protocols (ie the Ilkley Moor MTB Protocol). For example, there's someone trying to negotiate a similar protocol for Shipley Glen/Baildon Moor.
We also try not to do full armoured trail if poss. where possible we just clear, rake and improve drainage.
Done
Completed thanks for the heads up may see some of you round sometime.
It's on bookface now but I can't bring myself to even care about google+ !
Contacted Dave regarding our site.
Thanks one and all. Please forward it to your riding buddies 🙂
Job done 😉
Bump
Will have a gander, cheers for posting.
Be rude not to, as I ride most of them. Job done.
Done.