Rollins Lane

[hatter76]

This isn't a path I use very often but its fine with walking boots on. It does connect Brabyns with the Country Park and is used by walking groups etc.  Also the houses down that end and any new ones built in the mill area would benefit from a quicker walking route into Marple, although in reality numbers would be small.

Are you wanting the pot holes filled in or it upgrading to road standard?

[amazon]

Yes Amazon I did post this last year, and since then I have managed to persuade the Council to take a look and they have patched up the major holes, however it is still far from suitable for ordinary pedestrians to use. The number using Rollins Lane to get to the shops etc,  may be greater than you think, and with proper surfacing would increase still more, and even more if there were a properly signposted leisure walk between Marple and Etherow Country Park. This is in line with the Government's aim of  encouraging people to walk rather than drive so why not promote it?

If you think the money could be spent  better elsewhere then think again. Take just one example.  Contrary to the wishes of many of those most likely to make use of it, a short section of Mill Lane, Offerton, was fully resurfaced for the benefit of a few motorists accessing the Kennels instead of providing a better, though less expensive, surface between Otterspool Bridge and Pear Mill that would  provide an off-road walking and cycling route into Stockport. Unfortunately this Council thinks otherwise and is continually wasting money, so you cannot leave it to them.

RSH says Rollins Lane isn't top bad when being a part of a muddy walk via the aqueduct.  Regrettably you are misunderstanding the purpose, it is to make Rollins Lane suitable for those going to the shops and the station - you don't expect to have to negotiate muddy puddles when you are on that sort of journey. To my knowledge no major entry into Stockport's other parks is via such an unacceptable track so why does Stockport MBC continually refuse to bring it up to an acceptable standard?

As for Marple Ramblers comments - methinks he/she doth protest too much. Just why wouldn't you want to improve the environment in which we live?

I do hope some people would like to see our surroundings improved and take issue with some of our representatives.

Who are all theese people that go to the shops and station .down Rollins lane .and were are they coming from .

[marplerambler]

As for Marple Ramblers comments - methinks he/she doth protest too much. Just why wouldn't you want to improve the environment in which we live?

I know a great deal more about protesting that you may realise! I spent twenty years protesting as a member of the Executive Committee of Manchester Area Ramblers Association. Protesting about Footpaths in this area had to stop when I was employed as Public Rights of Way Officer at Stockport MBC for seven years.

I now protest now in my role as Footpaths Officer of Tameside Ramblers but actions sometimes speak just as loud as words - I applied for and got money for tools from Ramblers National Office and I set up a working party of volunteers to clear paths in Tameside. Last year I took legal action on behalf of Ramblers in Tameside to protect walkers from an extremely abusive farmer to ensure an obstructed route was first cleared and then recorded as a public footpath. I am fighting another legal battle over an obstructed public right of way at the moment so I am positive pain in the posterior of Tameside MBC who protests when I think a footpath battle can be won and know when it can't.

As for improving the environment in which we live all of the daffodils on the Middlewood Way were generously provided by Friends of Rose Hill Station and planted by me!

[CTCREP]

Yes Amazon I did post this last year, and since then I have managed to persuade the Council to take a look and they have patched up the major holes, however it is still far from suitable for ordinary pedestrians to use. The number using Rollins Lane to get to the shops etc,  may be greater than you think, and with proper surfacing would increase still more, and even more if there were a properly signposted leisure walk between Marple and Etherow Country Park. This is in line with the Government's aim of  encouraging people to walk rather than drive so why not promote it?

If you think the money could be spent  better elsewhere then think again. Take just one example.  Contrary to the wishes of many of those most likely to make use of it, a short section of Mill Lane, Offerton, was fully resurfaced for the benefit of a few motorists accessing the Kennels instead of providing a better, though less expensive, surface between Otterspool Bridge and Pear Mill that would  provide an off-road walking and cycling route into Stockport. Unfortunately this Council thinks otherwise and is continually wasting money, so you cannot leave it to them.

RSH says Rollins Lane isn't top bad when being a part of a muddy walk via the aqueduct.  Regrettably you are misunderstanding the purpose, it is to make Rollins Lane suitable for those going to the shops and the station - you don't expect to have to negotiate muddy puddles when you are on that sort of journey. To my knowledge no major entry into Stockport's other parks is via such an unacceptable track so why does Stockport MBC continually refuse to bring it up to an acceptable standard?

As for Marple Ramblers comments - methinks he/she doth protest too much. Just why wouldn't you want to improve the environment in which we live?

I do hope some people would like to see our surroundings improved and take issue with some of our representatives.

[rsh]

I walked along Rollins Lane the other week, part of a very muddy walk around from the Aqueduct, and I have to agree it really didn't seem too bad. That said, maybe that makes it an easy win to fix. If unauthorised vehicles are a problem it's ridiculous to say the path should be kept in a poor state just to deter them, there are plenty of other ways to solve such a problem without all users of the right of way having to suffer.

While you're on it CTCREP, if Stockport Council were to make a useful contribution to cycling routes in this area (chance would be a fine thing - look at Middlewood Way) I would desperately want them to work with the Canal and Rivers Trust to bring the Peak Forest Canal, particularly the terrible locks towpath and between Brickbridge and Plucksbridge up to a better standard. Where Rollins Lane has one or two large puddles to (easily) avoid, these are more like a constant series of unavoidable puddles than a path almost year round! Meanwhile Tameside Highways have recently completely redone some of the worst sections around Hyde with fantastic results. Like Middlewood, it's now painfully obvious when you cross the Stockport border (wiping mud from your face)...

[marplerambler]

For heavens sake!!! How many times do you have to be told??? This is a private road which is also a public bridleway. The Council has no responsibility to maintain it to the standard of a pavement so if you don't want your boots, bike or horse to get wet or muddy, use the main road (besides which when you complained last time I inspected the route a couple of days after your last complaint and the route was fine, I used it about a month ago and it was of a standard which was perfectly satisfactory for pedestrian/horse usage). Cash for maintenance of Public Rights of Way has been severely curtailed thanks to the LibDem support of the previous Conservative government's cuts to local authority expenditure: the money the Public Rights of Way section of SMBC will be directed to faults where the Council does have a statutory obligation to repair the route: the surface of Rollins Lane is in better condition than nearly all of the other public rights of way in Stockport.  We have had a lot of rain during the last few weeks so a large proportion of the Public rights of way network in Stockport is sodden and no magic wand can be waved to make the water go away.  Changes in highways legislation in 1968 permitted usage of bridleways by cyclists but a very specific clause was included in the legislation Countryside Act 1968 para 30 (3) stating that bridleways do not have to be maintained by the local authority to a standard appropriate for usage by cycles. Motor vehicles using this route without legal authority imparted in land ownership deeds or without the authorisation of the land owner commit an act of trespass. It is not walking boots, cycles or horses that create the pot holes, it is the cars of those who have legal access. The landowners choose not to maintain the route to the standard you seek, they have no legal obligation to do so and there is not a thing our MPs, Councillors or the Chief Executive of the Council can do so please stop wasting everybody's time when there is not a thing any of them can do about it!

There are a few pot-holes in Rollins Lane close to Compstall Road and I can guess exactly why the landowners ensure they stay that way - it is to deter the *******s who dump old tyres and building waste on more easily accessible lanes such as Bongs Road and Vale Road at Compstall, Low Lee Rd and Lakes Road, in the lay-byes on Torkington Road or at the old hair-pin bend at Sandhill Lane/Glossop Road. If I owned land by Rollins Lane I would also deter vehicular usage by leaving the pot holes unfilled. they present no danger to the walker - he walks around them or to the horses - they step across them.

[amazon]

Rollins Lane  is the entrance into Brabyns Park from the Compstall direction.  For a number of years I have been trying to persuade the Council to bring it up to the standard of other park entrances.   Previously I have contacted our local Councillors without success, and then the Chief Executive who eventually arranged to have the major holes patched,  but  beyond that the Council's reply is that this is a bridleway and so they do not need to cater for everyday pedestrians.  This is a route that many could use to get to the Station and the shops. or to enjoy a parkland stroll from Marple to Etherow Country Park.

I can't be the only one that objects to having to avoid puddles and mud in order to walk through the park from Compstall to Marple. The Government encourages us to take more exercise and leave our cars at home but this Council simply ignores that with an attitude that is a century behind the times.

Currently I have asked our MP to get involved, it would help if any who think as I do were to take up the issue as well. Please write to William Wragg and our Chief Executive to bring Rollins Lane  up to a standard that is suitable for everybody.

Did you not post this last year . i cant see many wanting to go that way to the station or shops .money would be better spent elsewere

[CTCREP]

Rollins Lane  is the entrance into Brabyns Park from the Compstall direction.  For a number of years I have been trying to persuade the Council to bring it up to the standard of other park entrances.   Previously I have contacted our local Councillors without success, and then the Chief Executive who eventually arranged to have the major holes patched,  but  beyond that the Council's reply is that this is a bridleway and so they do not need to cater for everyday pedestrians.  This is a route that many could use to get to the Station and the shops. or to enjoy a parkland stroll from Marple to Etherow Country Park.

I can't be the only one that objects to having to avoid puddles and mud in order to walk through the park from Compstall to Marple. The Government encourages us to take more exercise and leave our cars at home but this Council simply ignores that with an attitude that is a century behind the times.

Currently I have asked our MP to get involved, it would help if any who think as I do were to take up the issue as well. Please write to William Wragg and our Chief Executive to bring Rollins Lane  up to a standard that is suitable for everybody.