MTB Trails to be built in Baliinastoe

[Mjb]

The Irish forestry service, http://www.coillte.ie, is planning to build a Mountain bike centre in Ballinastoe woods, http://www.coillte.ie/newsletters/www4/issue4-5.htm. With over 2500km of state built and maintained trails in England, Scotland and Wales the people of NI once again get to suffer a great injustice thanks to Forests Service refusal to engage in the same way.

Contrey to what Mr. Beatie and Mr. O'Boyle of Forest Service NI would like us to believe, most of the government bodies concerned agreed with the recent economic appraisal reccommendations that three test trails be built immediately. Sadly, FS had the option to veto, which they used, effectively killing the proposals dead. Had the proposals gone ahead almost £2m of inward investment from outside the Forest Service budgets could have been spent building trails.

Shame on you Mr. Beatie and Mr. O'Boyle. You are routinely failing in your role as public servents. However it has recently come to light that they are far from failing a local sawmill, questions are even being asked in the Republic about state aid issues. One could even ask the question Exactly who sets Forest Service in NI policy? And who does it benefit?

At least we won't have to get a ferry anymore to go mountain biking!

[tankslapper]

Yip all true!

Why are they doing this WHHYYY!!!!

We are completely surrounded by trails in the British Isles Aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggh!

Fools it will never work!!!

At least in N.I. we can keep things simple and not have any - yet!!!

Rest of the world is obviously wrong!!


TS
;-)

[imcg]

Makes NI FS position even more untenable, -if that's possible. Another strong argument to confront them with is a bonus.

[Rick]

yes well Northern Ireland wouldn't want to ruin its reputation as always being a decade behind everyone else would it now !!

[tankslapper]

IMCG

The wheel is turning but the hamster is dead!

Its the Civil Service way - when confronted with a problem then make like an ostrich.

In spite of FULL support from other departments it has all fallen down to the lowest common denominator the FS - If the FS didnt say yes to the proposals then no other department can!

In other words its my football and ya cant have it! Pathetic but true.

It just goes to show how wrong you can be even when you believe your right.

Now! Everyone back to the Ulster school-playground, turn your watches back fifty years and none of your old nonsense about radical ideas like the future - unless your a sawmill!

TS

[andyh]

It's a fact,

all the major Forest Landowners in the British Isles recognise the great benefits that the development of Mountain Bike trails offer, and they are all proactively developing Mountain Bike trails themselves, leading the initiative.

Unfortunately the dinosaurs at the top of Forest Service, even when led by the hand, refuse to engage. In a cowardly fashion they hide behind closed doors, comic press releases, and blatant lies on Radio shows.

The state of the forests in Northern Ireland is just a sad indicator of their gross incompetence. Footpaths designed to flood, trees left fallen across paths, great areas of trees that just 'fall down', some trees that are left dangerously balanced against each other, waiting to fall on pasers by.

Come to think of it just what do they do ?

We have patiently talked to these guys in an attempt to work together, the problem is they are not listening, they don't want Mountain Bikes in the Forests, but Mountain Bikes are in the Forests, more people are buying Mountain Bikes and the numbers are growing so if they aren't going to provide proper waymarked trails how do they expect to be able to manage mountain biking safely?

Tell me Malcolm what is Forest Services proposal ?

[tankslapper]

Even the private sector in the UK has now got involved!!

Llandegla managed and run by Tilhill Forestry has just opened - obviously in the money orientated world of private sector forestry this is corporate suicide!! Well.....it is if you listen to the FS luddites!

http://www.nwmba.demon.co.uk/pages/coedllandegla.html

Talking with the deputy Manager of Operation for Tilhill they fully suport MTB development if and where they can put it in - Tilhill is backed by UPM-Keymenne arguably the worlds largest private sector forestry group with 36,000 employees world-wide.

Compared with FS they dont know **** obviously :rolleyes:

Shane Logan

[tankslapper]

Parodoxically it was an ex-FS employee who helped set Llandegla up!

This woodland and management has now been nominated for a prestiguous FC award! That's just how WRONG they are!

That'll teach 'em!!

[kenny]

Parodoxically it was an ex-FS employee who helped set Llandegla up!

This woodland and management has now been nominated for a prestiguous FC award! That's just how WRONG they are!

That'll teach 'em!!

Not really that much of a paradox TS. Obviously all the people who know how to manage forests left FS NI. What we're left with is the floatsam and jetsam (Collins dictionary defn: useless and discarded objects) running NI forests. And because it's NI, they belive all they have to do is sit on their ass and keep banging out their Triassic (that's before Jurassic) ideologies thinking that no-one is paying attention.

What's that I hear about sawmills?

[Pete 36]

LOL @ Kenny the English language expert

[Rick]

And sadly the British Government seems to think it is ok that the fools on the hill run the place .... into the ground most likely..

so much for progress...

[tankslapper]

A yes the great British government sell out!

Ulster plc - Everything must go! Bomb damaged stock!

Speaking to to Berie 'Ahem' last nite he said 'de fekkers! de ya tink we want dat place after they've finished wid it - we're now lookin to annexe Bradford into de free state'

Last one out of Ulster please turn the lights out!

[andyh]

And sadly the British Government seems to think it is ok that the fools on the hill run the place .... into the ground most likely..

so much for progress...

Rick do we really want to get into that kind of debate ?

I think if you check you'll find the people who make it work also work for the UK (there is no such thing as 'the british government') Government.

It takes desire to make it work from their local employees (FC = yes, FS = no). If FS report to Rooker that it's a good idea he'd support that too.

Getting all Nationally devided isn't going to help at all.

[thetrailbuilder]

looking round the irish forestry site and they seem to be switched on and know what there doing.

[Burt]

I wrote to my local MP (Eddie McGrady) about 4 weeks ago expressing my frustration about the attitude of the forestry service to Mountain Bikers - unsurprisingly, I havent even had any form of response - makes me wonder why we bother to vote for these guys! Our most popular forset park (Tollymore) is in Mr McGrady's costituency yet he is aparently uninterested in the fact that cyclists are going to Scotland to ride purpose build trails because they are not welcome at home. The FS needs to wake up to reality, which is that many people are cycling in the forest parks whether they like it or not and they will never be able to stop it - but until they embrace it and manage it be designating proper trails, its only a materr of time before someone gets hurt and they (the FS) land up in court.

[Hollywood]

The MPs are away on their Hols. I wrote a lettet to my MP 3 weeks ago but I expect it'll be October before I hear anything back.

[Conor]

The MPs are away on their Hols. I wrote a lettet to my MP 3 weeks ago but I expect it'll be October before I hear anything back.

Aye, they've such a hard life, deserve their three months holiday a year.

[AndyB]

I wrote to my local MP (Eddie McGrady) about 4 weeks ago expressing my frustration about the attitude of the forestry service to Mountain Bikers - unsurprisingly, I havent even had any form of response - makes me wonder why we bother to vote for these guys! Our most popular forset park (Tollymore) is in Mr McGrady's costituency yet he is aparently uninterested in the fact that cyclists are going to Scotland to ride purpose build trails because they are not welcome at home. The FS needs to wake up to reality, which is that many people are cycling in the forest parks whether they like it or not and they will never be able to stop it - but until they embrace it and manage it be designating proper trails, its only a materr of time before someone gets hurt and they (the FS) land up in court. We(IMBA)have had a reply from Eddie McGrady, very supportive, so I suspect that, as Hollywood says, he's on holiday, you'll get a reply when he gets back, no doubt.
A.