Catering for Marple/Connect2

[CTCREP]

Hello Miss Marple. Yes you must have missed the consultation. There was a major exhibition in Marple Library several years ago when residents were given the opportunity to discuss the route and also vote on the style of bridge to be built over the River Goyt. There have also been several minor exhibits at the Chadkirk Festivals since then. It just seems a long time since the project was first considered. Now we have to move on.

I have just read an enormous amount of correspondence concerning the coming Local Elections. In it were calls for greater help for businesses, and questions on how do you determine which candidate to support.

This thread was started because of Stockport MBC’s reluctance to cater for Marple, its businesses and also its visitors. Visitors require useful information about the area, its attractions and how to get there in the form of Information boards at various locations particularly at the Marple end of the Middlewood Way at Rosehill. Stockport MBC's excuse is always that there is no money available and yet Stockport MBC finds enough money for Corporate Notice Boards in all the Parks which have negligible benefit to visitors or the community.

It would be interesting to some if our local candidates, who must read this Web Site as they have an interest in Marple, were to state here what they will do to ensure visitors will have clear and informative Notice Boards that will encourage them to visit more often, and in doing so benefit some of the businesses in the area.

[Miss Marple]

Oh my god !  What have they done !   What used to be a place that you could be in touch with nature, walking down through the old Marple Hall gate down to the river, has now been all fenced off.   It is so clinical with an imposing fence preventing you from walking  the old routes down the valley.  We have horses so whilst I am all in favour of a bridle way and a safe family cycle track no thought at all has been given to dog walkers like myself who used to enjoy climbing down the embankment on to the old walkways of Marple Hall which led to the river.  
It was the most wonderful sight ever in winter to see the fallow dear which were recognisable with their frozen breath giving there location away, sadly there is no way down as not only have they fenced off a public right of way they have destroyed a most wonderful natural walk and replaced it with a clinical environment .  Can anyone enlighten me as when the community had a say in this project  I may have missed the consultation period ?

[Lily]

I have just been for a mooch down the back of Marple Hall to see how the new path is progressing.  At the risk of incurring the wrath of the 'tree lovers' - it's looking good.  As you walk along the top it's obvious that a lot of trees have had to be removed or severely cut back but you can now see down to the river and into the valley. 

Although the path is not yet finished it was walkable on - with permission from the workmen there. They have been busy putting in a decent fence and planting young trees (including beech). No doubt the brambles will recover - just look, for example, how often things have to be cut back along the Middlewood Way.

The new path, when finished, will mean that people with pushchairs or wheelchairs will have access to Otterspool and Chadkirk (once the new bridge has been built) without having to walk down the awful stretch of footpath from the bottom of Dan Bank as far as the Hare and Hounds.

I, for one, welcome the progress that has been made to open up the area for all users (but let's hope, not off road motorbikes).

[rsh]

I tried (and failed) coming back up the path from Otterspool a few weeks ago and was taken aback by just how heavy the construction was. However, we are seeing it in winter and a particularly wet one at that. Come Summer and given a few years, it should be pleasant again.

The new connection simply between Marple to Romiley will be the best thing to come out of this. The roads via Compstall or Otterspool are long diversions and hostile for walkers and cyclists, and while the canal is pleasant, it can feel a little too narrow in places for cycling and often gets muddy (though the local British Waterways office have told me they will look into improving the Rose Hill Tunnel stretch this year).

[sooty2]

I thought that the path down to Otterspool was closed to the public, but went to check this morning with the dog - what was a beautiful walk has, in my humble opinion, been ruined. lovely old trees have been cut down, brambles have been cleared (will have to find another spot for blackberrying!), and the pleasant meandering path has been levelled and widened. It looks dreadful. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the end result, but I really can't believe that this is progress.

Yes,this is another example of ruination of natural beauty.Dan Bank,Seventeen panes of glass,We should rename Marple Chainsawville

[Lisa Oldham]

And meanwhile the place that really needs some serious money and effort put into it.. the path at the bottom of the dale by the river and the road up to Dale road is still unpassable by bikes , wheel chairs and even those blooming off roaders!  Walking is fairly hazardous too!

[chicken lady]

I thought that the path down to Otterspool was closed to the public, but went to check this morning with the dog - what was a beautiful walk has, in my humble opinion, been ruined. lovely old trees have been cut down, brambles have been cleared (will have to find another spot for blackberrying!), and the pleasant meandering path has been levelled and widened. It looks dreadful. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the end result, but I really can't believe that this is progress.

[Lisa Oldham]

the off roaders will go where they like! whether we build a lovely new path or not! .. as for checking their plates...they rarely have them! They bring them in the vans and ride from there. Lots of issues at brabyns with them too... reported to the police but there is little they can do as by the time they have the time to get there theyve gone!

I'll get my dog out of the way of them.. but I stand my ground...I want to see them swerve and fall off

[Dave]

I don't think they should be allowed to claim it for themselves.  Off road motor bikers on bridleways and footpaths are breaking the law.  I don't know this particular route, or what its legal status is as a highway, but the off-roaders are certainly a problem on bridleways around the Roman Lakes.  They are noisy, polluting, and they often turn up in groups and drive too fast, frightening dogs and horses.  If you can read their number plates through the mud    they should be reported to the police.

[Miss Marple]

I have no views whatsoever on this project but I have to say that I walk my dog around the ruins and down to Otterspool twice daily.  It has always been a quiet walk with the odd cyclist and horse rider passing by but on two occasions now I have been confronted with 3 off road motor bikers riding at speed.  The first time this happened I was taken totally by surprise and just managed to get over to the side, but my dog was on the other side of the path on an extending lead.  Luckily for the  bikers and My dog he remained there whilst they passed riding over his lead.
So all I am posting for is to say that the people living next to the site may well not be NIMBYs, they may well see this type of thing happening.  Let's hope the off road bikers will respect everyone who uses the track and do not claim it for themselves.  

[CTCREP]

Following the pre Christmas scare when here was an attack on the Connect 2 scheme I am happy to report that the Council and in particular Marple Area Committee are fully supportive of the project. An earlier communication stated that the bridge should be in place in time for the Chadkirk Festival. So let us have a Happy New Year and look forward to enjoying a circular walk down to the Festival and back along the canal.

[CTCREP]

Apparently one or two NIMBYs tried to brow beat the Local Area Committee into stopping the provision of a Safe Route to School and a Safe and Pleasant Route into Stockport for those willing to cycle there by opposing the creation of the Connect2 route from Marple to Stockport. This route has been approved and partly funded by SUSTRANS a Nationwide organisation well aware of the benefits of such routes and through their work can claim, for example, to have benefited the North East by some 13 million pounds. A well designed route between Stockport and Macclesfield would bring noticeable benefit to Marple not only by enabling residents to access the countryside but also through additional visitors bringing income to Marple through its cafes etc. If you have an interest in seeing Marple flourish rather than turn into a ghost town as some places have become then please support the Connect2 project.  If you would like to know more why you should support this project please see a Presentation we gave to Stockport Council and other user groups when we were asked to show the problems our particular groups had and how they could be dealt with. The presentation is on the Cycle Stockport web site.  www.cyclestockport.org.uk

[Victor M]

What is required is a notice board like the ones Cheshire East have put up on the canal tow path at Disley. They are a reasonable size, two sided with a map showing local amenities with advertising around the periphery for local shops, pubs cafes etc. They look really good and probably the advertising pays for the boards.

[CTCREP]

Having just walked round to see how the Connect2 project was progressing I came across the usual NIMBY poster in the Turnpike area which I guess was trying to scare local residents. For those who may be thinking of being taken in by this selfish and totally unrealistic attitude - for example, I don’t see hundreds of complaints about motor cycles on the Middlewood Way - be aware that in areas with more enlightened Councils that have created good quality cycle paths the value of the adjacent houses has risen as people become aware of the benefits.

If this is the same person who is persuading the Council not to provide visitor notice boards at the Rosehill end of the Middlewood Way that would benefit the local cafes and other businesses and you know who it is, perhaps you could persuade them to think of catering for Marple rather than their own interests.

[chicken lady]

I agree about the useless signage. I walk my dog down the Middlewood Way most mornings, last week I met a cyclist from Marple Bridge who has recently moved into the area,  trying to find a way to the A6 avoiding Dan Bank. He had been told about the Middlewood Way but had no idea where it went, I was able to advise, and also told him about the picnic area etc at Lower Poynton ( I assume it's still there, I've not been for years!) as he was keen to cycle with his children.