Hi All
Here is the latest update on the footbridge by the Tennis Club.
If you remember, on 13th January the Town Council voted overwhelmingly not to take up the Tennis Club's offer to pay for a repair to the bridge but instead voted to have a pathway put in (costs + specifications unknown). Two days later I had a call offering to sell us the bridge, on condition we went ahead with the repair but had the bridge gated and closed off to the general public. That + concerns over the liability led us to turn down the offer. At the end of the following week, however, a line of enquiry informed us that our affiliation to the LTA should cover us for liability for both club members and non-members, if the bridge belonged to us. As a result I contacted the Council and said that if this were the case (but we needed to verify it) and we could still buy it, then we would but on the understanding that once passed fit to use, it would be open to everyone, as before. At the Trust (ie Council) meeting the next day, rather than vote on whether to remove the bridge and discuss what type of path they preferred (which were on their agenda), they decided to postpone further discussions until the next meeting on March 24th, so as to give both sides time to fully explore the implications and legalities of the Club owning the bridge. I've since followed up 2 different lines of enquiry and both have led back to the conclusion that we would be covered for liability by the LTA, so the plan is to inform the Council that we would like to pursue the option to buy.
In the meantime we thought it would be useful to guage public opinion in advance of the next meeting. A couple of things have appeared in the 'Forester' but we would like to arrange for a petition of local residents and people who would usually use the bridge.
The plan is to arrange for a rota of volunteers to stand by the bridge on the tarmac side and ask passers-by if they would be happy to sign the petition. The wording is as follows:
'We, the undersigned, local residents and users of the Lydney Recreation Ground, call for the footbridge to be repaired and reopened. We understand that decisions may need to be taken in the future regarding the bridge's replacement with something more modern and wheelchair friendly but find it unacceptable that the bridge has been closed for so long.'
We were thinking a running the rota from 10.00-4.00 on Saturday 1st/Sunday 2nd March + the same the following weekend. That would leave the weekend before the meeting as a reserve in case one of the others is rained off.
If you can donate an hour of your time for either weekend 1 or weekend 2 (or both!), could you please let me know via email and I shall organise a rota? If you could let me know by next Saturday (22nd), that will give me a week to organise and send out all details.
Club members can, of course, also sign the petition and I'll leave a copy in the club house. However, one of our junior's parents has also offered to organise a letter petition specifically for club members and I'll send out those details tomorrow.
By doing the above, we will have evidence of both public and club concern to take to the Council.
Any questions, please ask.
Many Thanks in advance
Martin Godwin (Club Chairman)
Here is the latest update on the footbridge by the Tennis Club.
If you remember, on 13th January the Town Council voted overwhelmingly not to take up the Tennis Club's offer to pay for a repair to the bridge but instead voted to have a pathway put in (costs + specifications unknown). Two days later I had a call offering to sell us the bridge, on condition we went ahead with the repair but had the bridge gated and closed off to the general public. That + concerns over the liability led us to turn down the offer. At the end of the following week, however, a line of enquiry informed us that our affiliation to the LTA should cover us for liability for both club members and non-members, if the bridge belonged to us. As a result I contacted the Council and said that if this were the case (but we needed to verify it) and we could still buy it, then we would but on the understanding that once passed fit to use, it would be open to everyone, as before. At the Trust (ie Council) meeting the next day, rather than vote on whether to remove the bridge and discuss what type of path they preferred (which were on their agenda), they decided to postpone further discussions until the next meeting on March 24th, so as to give both sides time to fully explore the implications and legalities of the Club owning the bridge. I've since followed up 2 different lines of enquiry and both have led back to the conclusion that we would be covered for liability by the LTA, so the plan is to inform the Council that we would like to pursue the option to buy.
In the meantime we thought it would be useful to guage public opinion in advance of the next meeting. A couple of things have appeared in the 'Forester' but we would like to arrange for a petition of local residents and people who would usually use the bridge.
The plan is to arrange for a rota of volunteers to stand by the bridge on the tarmac side and ask passers-by if they would be happy to sign the petition. The wording is as follows:
'We, the undersigned, local residents and users of the Lydney Recreation Ground, call for the footbridge to be repaired and reopened. We understand that decisions may need to be taken in the future regarding the bridge's replacement with something more modern and wheelchair friendly but find it unacceptable that the bridge has been closed for so long.'
We were thinking a running the rota from 10.00-4.00 on Saturday 1st/Sunday 2nd March + the same the following weekend. That would leave the weekend before the meeting as a reserve in case one of the others is rained off.
If you can donate an hour of your time for either weekend 1 or weekend 2 (or both!), could you please let me know via email and I shall organise a rota? If you could let me know by next Saturday (22nd), that will give me a week to organise and send out all details.
Club members can, of course, also sign the petition and I'll leave a copy in the club house. However, one of our junior's parents has also offered to organise a letter petition specifically for club members and I'll send out those details tomorrow.
By doing the above, we will have evidence of both public and club concern to take to the Council.
Any questions, please ask.
Many Thanks in advance
Martin Godwin (Club Chairman)
