IN her letter in last week's Review headed 'Sustrans Planning', Mrs Cordon, Tidenham PC's Clerk, seeks to counter 'uninformed comment' and justify the council's decision to object to the planned Sedbury to Brockweir Railway Path by making some extraordinary and unsubstantiated claims. In view of the evident amount of local interest in the planned path and in accordance with the demands of public accountability, Mrs Cordon's assertions should not go unchallenged.
Firstly, Mrs Cordon questions the sincerity of Tidenham parishioners who have actively pledged their support for the Railway Path, by suggesting that 95 per cent of them will never use the path. From post-code analysis, the numbers of parishioners who have registered their support with Wye Valley Communities for Safe Cycling (see http://www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk">www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk) now stands at well over 200. It is therefore incredible that these parishioners are dismissed and insulted with such offhand disdain by suggesting that at least 190 of these will never use the path. This arrogance shows clear contempt for the very local democracy she is meant to represent and uphold.
The real 'dodgy dossier' moment in the letter however is the '40 per cent claim'. Mrs Cordon prompts the question 'Would the residents of Tidenham Parish be happy to have their council tax increased by 40 per cent' in the event that Sustrans should 'walk away from future maintenance?'. What a frightening prospect for the beleaguered council tax payer! Fortunately for them it is also arrant nonsense.
Sustrans have undertaken to maintain the path as they already do on over 600km of paths/routes in the UK, but let's indulge our imagination and work through the implications of this hypothetical Sustrans 'walk away'.
As an employee of the Parish council, Mrs Cordon should be aware that Parish councils' statutory responsibilities for maintenance are restricted to matters such as allotments and church graveyards and that any future adoption of the path by local government would be covered by Gloucestershire CC (GCC) who have responsibility for highways and public rights of way. Taking the Sustrans' annual maintenance cost estimate of £21,876 (Sustrans 2009 public consultation document 'Maintenance Matters') and GCC's Council tax income estimate for 2010-11 of £241,786,952 (GCC budget book 2010-11), it is reasonable to estimate that the increased burden placed on the tax payer would be all of 0.009 per cent. For Tidenham Parish this would result in a maximum annual council tax rise of between 9p (Band A property) and 27p (Band H property) – these are almost certainly overestimates considering some of the path lies in Monmouthshire.
So the '40 per cent claim' is at best naive and mistaken but frankly
looks like a cynical and dishonest tactical threat. Mrs Cordon should either provide referenced justification for her claim or offer immediate reassurance to her parishioners that her letter contains 'uninformed comment' rather than objective grounds for influencing local opinion.
I won't insult the reader's intelligence by bothering with Mrs Cordon's suggestions that rail tracks are steep and that they narrow at tunnels, that public paths attract anti-social behavior and that path users daren't take a step into the great outdoors if there aren't toilets and hospitals within immediate reach!
One final point regarding parking concerns though: Wyedean School has provided public written confirmation of the use of the school's parking facilities during peak use periods, ie weekends and holidays. Mrs. Cordon has received a copy of this document but conveniently fails to mention it when citing potential parking problems as a principal point of objection.
To express your support for the Sustrans path, visit http://www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk">www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk or [email protected]">[email protected] (reference P1626/10/FUL) and [email protected]">[email protected] (reference DC/2010/00783). – Paul Christie, Tintern, co-chair Wye Valley Communities for Safe Cycling http://www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk">www.wyevalleycycling.org.uk