Access/keys/gates for a footpath

kay

kay

Well-known member
We have recently had a local path upgraded to an all-weather wheelchair friendly surface.

The problem is that local residents are fearful of motorbikes using the path, so motorcycle barriers have been erected at all access points. This means that larger mobility scooters, and any scooters with their rain-hoods attached, are unable to get through the barriers to get on to the path.

These users are amongst the most vulnerable on the roads. Pavements are blocked with parked cars, wheelie bins, road works and advertising signs, and scooter users find themselves having to backtrack a considerable distance to find a lowered kerb, then make their way along the roadway at considerable danger from the traffic. So I am keen to find some solution whereby mobility scooter users can gain access but motorbike users are still excluded. Does anyone know of anything that works in some other area of the country?
 
graham

graham

New member
This is a serious problem with no easy solution. I know that for some parks round here, users of such scooters have been issued by the council with keys to the locked gates.
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
There is no easy solution.  If you allow access for mobility scooters it will inevitably allow some motorcycle access.  Some A-frame designs are better than others are stopping some sizes of m'bike.  We also have Horse Hops to allow horse access to multi-user trails, but any decent trail rider can get over these.  :spank:

What we do is go out at weekends and evenings with the police and catch the little (or big) buggers (Chav Hunting I call it) they are then issued warning notices under section 59 of the police reform act - which is to do with causing a nuisance in a public place (its easier that using Public Rights of Way legislation).  Get caught again and the bike is in the back of my 4x4 and off to the crusher :clap:  Whilst this doesnt stop all illegal usage, it certainly has a big impact and some of our sites now have very few probs with illegal motorcycle activity. 
 
LarryFatcat

LarryFatcat

Active member
Our moron council has put opposing gates to stop motorbikes, on a cycle path. 
They stop cyclists and force them around the gates on to the road. 
The only solution I can think of is some sort of camera enforcement.
 
L

Lincolnshire poacher

Guest
I've seen a gate which may help, but its hard to describe!.  Bit like a kissing gate which you can open to get a large buggy through.  Not very helpful i know but thats the best i can do at the mo!.
 
Charlie

Charlie

New member
use of a standard key might do the job, something like FB14, make all the scooter users aware of it but very few bikers will care enough to find out what type it is and then go and buy one.
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
Use of standard keys is fine of you only have a few locals using the path, but it will be very restrictive if the site attracts more visitors from a wider area.  Can also be a ball ache to manage and monitor keys in circulation and then issuing new keys to existing key holders if locks have to be changed.

The big kissing gates which allow mobility scooters are no good - they still let pit bikes and mini-motos through.

As for cameras.... not that practical. Most illegal riders are on un-licenced vehicles and hence no licence plate and even road legal bikers tend to leave their plates muddy to avoid details being taken when on footpaths/bridleways.  Also if someone is caught using camera footage the camera would then have to be moved to avoid the little buggers coming back and finding / knicking the camera kit (which aint cheap).  Our local District Council use roving cameras to catch filthy B*****d fly-tippers and this is what they have to do. 
 
graham

graham

New member
Jim is quite right in saying that pro-active police enforcement is the best answer by far. The problem is keeping the police interested in maintaining a useful presence in the face of what the local Inspector will see as higher priorities.
 
cap n chris

cap n chris

Well-known member
Couldn't the wheelchair-bound paranoiacs simply be provided with guns or summat. Would be cheaper than installing CCTV, multiple biometric-operated gating systems, razor wire, armed guards, hidden snipers etc..
 
Big Jim

Big Jim

Member
We try not to impact too much on police resource.  Sometimes we will do big hits with a fair few coppers involved but sometimes just a couple of rangers out with a couple of PCSOs (who can issue sect 59 warnings) is sufficient.  We also catch people upto other illegal activities such as a couple of youths recently wire stripping(crims dont expect the police in a council 4x4s) so this keeps Mr Inspector happy, and we also drop police at other incidents which they would otherwise have had to walk/leggit to.

I do know of a bloke who gave a youth taring about on his local nature reserve a good slapping, whic I couldnt possibly condone  :bow:, but he ended up in quite a bit of bother for assualt. Unfortunately.
 
graham

graham

New member
cap 'n chris said:
Couldn't the wheelchair-bound paranoiacs simply be provided with guns or summat. Would be cheaper than installing CCTV, multiple biometric-operated gating systems, razor wire, armed guards, hidden snipers etc..
Click to expand...
You miss the point Chris. It's not just that the bikes terrify the wheelchair users (which they do, I've seen it) but that the little bastards can get in at all times, damage the ground and, frequently, dump and burn out their nicked bikes. Dunno about you but me, I don't like that happening in the woods where I walk my dogs.

We have considered the "hidden sniper" option.
 
cap n chris

cap n chris

Well-known member
I get the point, Graham.

Surely it boils down to the immortal expression. "One bad apple..." etc.?

Timeless. Ever was, ever will be.
 
graham

graham

New member
cap 'n chris said:
I get the point, Graham.

Surely it boils down to the immortal expression. "One bad apple..." etc.?

Timeless. Ever was, ever will be.
Click to expand...
Not that I wish to get into a political debate about such matters (isn't that what pubs are for?) but no, it's not "one bad apple" it's a cultural thing, it's about changing the limits of acceptable/unacceptable behaviour in a population.
 
cap n chris

cap n chris

Well-known member
Or not.

I get the impression the OT isn't about tackling the lack of respect exhibited towards certain groups by other groups but, rather, is seeking ideas for a workable system of partition between the two.
 
graham

graham

New member
cap 'n chris said:
Or not.

I get the impression the OT isn't about tackling the lack of respect exhibited towards certain groups by other groups but, rather, is seeking ideas for a workable system of partition between the two.
Click to expand...
Short term and long term objectives.
 
kay

kay

Well-known member
cap 'n chris said:
Couldn't the wheelchair-bound paranoiacs simply be provided with guns or summat. Would be cheaper than installing CCTV, multiple biometric-operated gating systems, razor wire, armed guards, hidden snipers etc..
Click to expand...

Which wheelchair bound paranoics?

All the residents that I have seen agitating about motorbikes have been perfectly able-bodied.  ;)

The mobility scooter users aren't worried about the motorbikes. Avoiding the odd motorbike on the path is trivial compared with being forced into the roadway on what are some of the busiest roads in the city

Thanks for all the ideas so far, which I shall pass on. I'm quite keen for something to be done about this. If we're serious about access for the disabled, it doesn't seem to me to be right to just shrug our shoulders and say 'most people can use the path - there's only a few who can't get through the barriers'.
 
paul

paul

Moderator
whitelackington said:
The way petrol is skyrocketing, I doubt off roading for pleasure
will continue much longer.
Click to expand...

If a bike is nicked, ridden illegaly and burned, it usually comes with a supply of petrol...

I have noticed a large increase in off-road motorbikes on the last few years - and usually where they shouldn't be.

If you ever noticed the rut-ridden slope near Sell Gill Holes in Yorkshire (now fenced off), I happened to be walking past when a group of off-road bikes came along and tore up and down the slope several times until it was deeply rutted and then rode off. Only took abut 10 minutes. That was several years ago and the damage is still there now. And these weren't pimply-faced youths either.


 
ian.p

ian.p

Active member
i wonder if a center or club uses that track up to sell gill when we (SMCC) went there at easter we got passed by about 10 middle aged blokes on trail bikes...
 
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