Who the heck has agreed to this?
The original post in this thread explains who agreed to it. To provide more detail: the council's Greenspace Team were approached by CRT, the programme of works was discussed, the compound area was laid out and discussed on site with a Greenspace Officer and Friends of the Park, changes were made to avoid having to remove or damage commemorative trees at the top end of the park and it was also agreed which trees would be saved / removed and what reinstatement measures would be taken afterwards. All this was agreed by Greenspace on behalf of the council and supported by Friends of the Park. I was the Friends of the Park representative at these meetings and I agreed to it too.
It's nothing short of a building site.
That's correct, it is a building site until the lock is repaired and the park reinstated. This is why you can't walk through it.
I don't remember planning notices being issued on lampposts in the park stating that this was going ahead.
Notices are on lampposts in the park. There are also larger notices now showing the canal closure (see pic).
The Dog walk footpath is completely blocked, vegetation and mature trees removed, heavy vehicles moving around and a large part of the northern section fenced off.
It's not a Dog walk footpath specifically but the woodland walk along the park's perimeter with the canal is blocked. The canal tow path will also be blocked soon. This is unavoidable as the park is the only area that can be used to gain the necessary access to carry out the repairs. As others have pointed out, there are alternative places that one can walk a dog while this path is closed. The minimum number of mature trees possible to get access to the lock have been removed. Heavy vehicles will be moving around for many months, so the area has been fenced off to keep the public safe - because it's a building site.
This is not some worthless land that no one cares about, the request to use the park should have been met with a firm NO IMO.
The Friends of the Park care greatly about the park and were pleased to be involved in the discussions and be able to influence how the park is to be used and to assure ourselves of the level of reinstatement to be applied afterwards. We also believe that the canal and locks are a significant assess for the Marple Community and should be kept open. I would also say that I've been very satisfied with the professionalism of the CRT Team members that I've been in discussions with.
If you have any other concerns it is recommended that you take them up with the manager of the council's Greenspace team or one of your local councillors.
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