12th September 2023
Suppose you offered to buy something very expensive for the benefit of walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
-The walkers hated the idea.
-The cyclists thought it would be disaster.
-The horse-riders said it would be worse than what they had now.
-Lots of people who didn’t walk, cycle or ride a horse said it would spoil their fun anyway.
They all agreed that you’d already bought some last year, but you hadn’t kept your promises to look after it and now it was a mess. They also thought that there were far more urgent, important things you could spend your money on.
Nobody, but nobody, liked the idea.
What would you do? Is it just possible that you might change your mind? Just how stubborn would you have to be to buy it anyway and make everybody unhappy?
No, we’re not talking about the latest iPhone. We’re talking about the totally daft proposal to cover Wilson’s Road in Longstanton – one of the few remaining pleasant, grassy footpaths in the area – with a hard gritty surface that absolutely nobody wants.
Why would anyone want to do that? Could it be that having built a big, flashy foot bridge over the new Southern Bypass they think it’s a bit, well, demeaning that people can only reach it via a pleasant, grassy, little footpath?
The message is clear. Wilson’s Road ain’t broke – don’t fix it!
(Yes, Ma. This is a message about the environment.)