Hi,
Just a heads up in case anyone is heading out to Pencaitland Railway Path that it's currently blocked by a locked gate at the Crossgatehall.
Apparently the land owner has locked it because they were losing cattle.
Anyone know if there is any obligation to allow access here or solely up to landowner?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Pencaitland Railway Path Locked
(45 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
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That's a Core Path, which I think means there is an obligation to allow access, but I could be wrong.
You could try asking East Lothian Council's Outdoor Access team: http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/a_to_z/service/153/outdoor_access
Posted 7 years ago # -
It's a core path, so the Access Officers should be alerted.
http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/379/countryside_and_wildlife/1264/core_paths
Locked gates are specifically mentioned as being a hazard to the public in the exercise of their access rights.
<ninja'd by Frenchy!>
Robert
Posted 7 years ago # -
I think I know where you are. Surely the landowner's action should be to repair their fences if cows are getting on to the path and wandering off?
Posted 7 years ago # -
There's always a presumption in favour of responsible access in Scotland, whether there's a path or not. Where there is path, a landowner would need an extremely good reason to block/close it and, even at that, it could only be a temporary closure.
Core paths are 'important' or well used routes. There is a legal requirement on councils to maintain a list of them and, to some extent, to manage them. They are expected to be as accessible as possible to all, so a locked gate is out.
I'd agree with Frenchy, contact the ELC local access officer. Might be worth copying in Sustrans too as I think this is an NCR.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Is it locked at the height restriction barrier?
Posted 7 years ago # -
No it's the large gate before that. The whole car park area is now closed.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Sorry, now I've read your post properly.. yes. It is!
Posted 7 years ago # -
I was there today. The closure sign has the ELC Countryside Ranger Service logo on it. I was able to get around the closed gate a couple of days ago with my bike but today even that is blocked off. I had to go round and pick up the path at Ormiston. On the way back I didn't see any mention of the blocked gate from the other direction. I went round by Elphinston and past Fa'side.
I wonder if this is the same farmer who has covered the path with a slick of sewage in the past.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I was too stubborn to go out of my way and lugged the bike over the fence and carried on... good point though - if you were coming from Ormiston and not able inclined to throw bikes over gates then that's a massive detour.
The access officer did know about it.. apparently there was cattle getting out onto the road so this is a temporary way to stop that happening. They are looking at some sort of new fencing or a gap beside the gate.
Any idea what the story behind that slurry was?.. that was utterly rank.
Posted 7 years ago # -
@Schemieradge I never heard any more about it.
Posted 7 years ago # -
apparently there was cattle getting out onto the road
So can his cattle can open an unlocked gate?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Not sure why it has been locked rather than just closed. Presumably folk are not to be trusted to close a gate behind themselves...
Posted 7 years ago # -
So can his cattle can open an unlocked gate?
They've been radicalised by the donkeys.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Still closed today.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I go that way once a year to deliver a Christmas pudding. I will suffer no let or hindrance in the execution of that duty.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Still locked this morn, but 13 @EdinburghBelles were not to be diverted, so climbed over the gate and hoiked our bikes across.
No sign of any cattle or any other livestock in any of the fields we passed.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Still locked but now a sign dated 30 September explaining the problem.
Posted 7 years ago # -
There's no reason for locking a gate to keep cattle in a field.
Rather it's to prevent people opening a gate - keep an eye on this one, as if it persists for long enough, the right of way may be lost (7 years, perhaps?).
Robert
Posted 7 years ago # -
There does seem to be some action on the fencing... a few larger fenceposts have appeared along the cattle field in the car park, and a couple of new posts a small distance down the railway path as if there's going to be another gate.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Perhaps it could be Fix-My-Street'd as an obstruction to a path / right-of-way?
While acknowledging the right of the landowner to secure their livestock, is it lawful to lock the gate and provide no alternative access to a core path?
Posted 7 years ago # -
is it lawful to lock the gate and provide no alternative access to a core path?
I don't think so, given that locked gates are mentioned by name in the legislation.
Robert
Posted 7 years ago # -
From ScotWays
"Landowners should not put up fences or signs to obstruct people from exercising their access rights and the local authority has power to ... remove obstructions and recover the cost from the landowner. Contact your local authority Access Officer and ask him to take action."
There's a list of Access Officers here.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Is it not EL Council itself which has locked its own gate in this case? Which is ridiculous.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Yes the access officer is aware of this.
So still locked tonight... here's the current state of play..
Posts for a new fence in the car park:
A new gate with a latch on the path. Not really a solution I'm particularly enamoured with.
Posted 7 years ago # -
That is just ridiculous. So rather than getting the farmer to build a decent fence to keep his cows where they're meant to be (probably not that difficult as tens of thousands of other farmers seem to manage) they build obstacles across the core path and restrict users' access?
Posted 7 years ago # -
Maybe we could crowdsource a mel and some stabs and fix it ourselves.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Gates aside, how passable is this route this time of year? I'd been riding it on 25c road tyres but I'm guessing the hard packed mud sections will be a lot less fun when wet.
What kind of bike/tyre are others using?
Posted 7 years ago # -
The gate's now open! (the locked gate that is, the unlocked gate to replace it is well and truly still in effect).
I use 1.75 26" tyres and don't have any problems with the railway path unless:
1. there has been a *lot* of rain. (It has been flooding in the winter and staying that way until spring. it didn't last winter though - maybe unusually dry winter)
2. a lot of horses have recently been down there (totally devastates the surface and makes it unrideable for a period)
3. there's a slurry-slickIt's OK just now - just a couple of muddyish sections.
Posted 7 years ago #
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