Overgrown bike routes slammed by cyclists

Published on Monday 4 August 2008 10:56

CYCLISTS today called for work to tackle overgrown bike paths in the city to be prioritised following a series of complaints.

Users of the off-road routes throughout Edinburgh are angry about the number of trees, bushes and weeds that need to be cut back.

They say the vegetation is causing problems for both cyclists and pedestrians, but would have been dealt with sooner if it affected a road.

Specific complaints have been received about the state of the north Edinburgh cycle way, along the route from Canonmills to Leith, while there are problems with weeds at Victoria Park in Newhaven and nettles growing on the path near the Dean Gallery.

A spokesman for cycle lobby group Spokes urged the council to treat the problem as a "priority".

"Bushes grow and grass grows every year, so it shouldn't be a surprise that paths need cut back," he said.

"It's doubly important right now because the use of these paths is growing, both with cyclists and pedestrians.

"It's inconvenient if the paths are overgrown, but also risks unnecessary conflict between pedestrians and cyclists trying to pass each other.

"This should be treated in the same way that the council would cut back vegetation overhanging a road or bus lane."

Inverleith Labour councillor Lesley Hinds said that paths have been cleared annually in previous years and she contacted a local neighbourhood manager to ask about the situation.

But she was told that there was "no budget" attached to such work, and the paths can only be "cleaned and cut back by the task force as and when they have any spare capacity".

Cllr Hinds said today: "A constituent raised concerns with me, and said the paths were becoming difficult to use.

"I assumed that if I reported this, the work would be carried out, but the response I received was unsatisfactory.

"The council needs to ensure that cyclists and pedestrians have accessible and clean paths."

The complaints were raised by Stockbridge mother Marie-Agnes Lecuirot Bodenham, 47, who cycles with her son Maximillian, 15, to school at Trinity Academy and has been using the paths through Trinity and the Dean Village for 20 years.

She said: "It's never been this bad. You have to duck to avoid the hedges and there's a lot of metal poking out from the sides.

"They only need to tend it once year. I'm not a gardener but I don't think that's too much to ask."

The complaints come just days after the council announced a review of how it tackles weeds, after a combination of bad weather and new restrictions on the chemicals used to kill them left some streets overgrown.

Forth Labour councillor Elizabeth Maginnis branded the state of some streets in north Edinburgh – particularly Granton, Boswall, Pilton and Muirhouse – as a "disgrace".