Tsk tsk, there was me thinking that having public parks, village greens etc was A Good Thing (as evidenced e.g. by the fact that houses with a view over or near the same are said to sell for higher prices than other houses), but I've learned something new:
The plan to attract more people to the Trap Grounds [a town green, i.e. a vilage green in a town] by opening a new entrance from the south is being put forward by members of the St Margaret’s Area Society, who believe not enough people make use of the reserve. An entrance in Navigation Way would allow school children and families to enjoy the iconic town green, said the group’s chairman Tim King.
But the Friends of the Trap Grounds say wildlife, including legally protected species, would be put at risk with the town green reduced to being "a shortcut". Allowing the site to become a thoroughfare could also attract flytipping, drug dealers and rough sleepers, say the Friends.
The two sides clashed at the annual meeting of the St Margaret’s Residents’ group... The meeting ended with the Friends of the Trap Grounds and others pushing through a vote of no confidence in the chairman.
Aristotle Lane Residents’ Association is also opposing the new access gate, amid fears about crime.
Can't have people taking shortcuts, can we? It's far better if everybody walks the long way round.
Via Quite Quy at HPC.
Local Council Efficiency
2 hours ago
6 comments:
There are ofcourse examples of habitats, historical remains and what not, that benefits from being protected, but then it's not a village green or any type of common land anymore is it? If the "friends" were this concerned about weeds and rodents, they should have applied for making the place a nature reserve, or offer to buy it outright. The latter option is incomprehensible to the green-front nimbys as it would defeat their purpose entirely, then they would have to pay for the benefit of their own houses rising in value, and who wants that?
Drug dealers and rough sleepers are likely to be put off not attracted by the park becoming a "thoroughfare" since they obviously prefer relative privacy.
It is conceivable that some small part of the "Friends" claims are infinitely more truthful than that but one does not expect any sort of honesty, under any circumstances, from econazi "environmentalists" & they parasites should alwayd be treated as such.
NC, exactly. As things stand, the area is already accessible to the public, but from only one side, so the far end is a good place for drug dealing, fly tipping, rough sleeping etc. If the public can walk all the way across, this would reduce rather than increase such affronts to decency.
It's all bollocks, as I suspected. There is perfectly good foot access all round the site already, so opening access from the south isn't going to offer a shortcut to anywhere. What is far more likely is the the Friends of the Trap Grounds have been used to enjoying this bit of "public space" in comparative privacy and don't appreciate an increase in visitor numbers. Can't have riff-raff from outside the area coming onto our green, can we?
B, thanks, I tried finding it on Google Maps but gave up.
"Aristotle Lane, Oxford" in Google Maps takes you right there. The Trap Grounds is the bit of green between Aristotle Lane and Stone Meadow. My brother used to live in Aristotle Lane before all the houses were built on the land between the railway and the canal and sold to NIMBYs.
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