“"In July last year 17-year-old Rhiannon Bennett was killed by a speeding mountain biker, who had earlier screamed
¿move, because I'm not stopping¿ at youngsters who were in his way. "

Ummm lets look at this in more detail. Firstly it seems the cyclist was on the road and on a custom carbon bike most likely a road bike. The girl had been drinking in the local park and the group of them was going up the road for food. The police got conflicting statements over what happened but the balanced view was it was distinctly possible she stepped out the way and then moved back into the cyclists path. She died from head injuries and the inquest concluded it was accidental.

The cyclist Jason Howard did call out and indicated he was no stopping which would imply exactly that and not that he was/had slowing/slowed down.

It's very sad and happened a year before a statement by the local MP supporting open access but other than that what does it have to do with cycling in Broadstone Warren or anywhere else? Dogs are dangerous so ban them, horses are dangerous so ban them, in fact walkers are dangerous if they happen to cause a similar accidental outcome.”

“mr pettitt,
reading your saga above,you make assumptions.firstly i grew up in east sussex and try to visit every 2 years or so.I find it amusing that an article about people walking and cycling in a park can draw so many comments when the socialists have steadily eroded the rites of people under the GREEN banner.Growing up close to the downs i don't ever remember people caring whether you rode a bike,horse or walked your dog across the downs,we all shared their beauty.Today the enviro nazis are slowly taking these rights away from the people.
I guess the english people are going to lay down like lap dogs an take this one too.”

“A funny old game this, for years people have used these woods, walkers, dog walkers, horses and cyclists in harmony. Then a few little signs appear and all of a sudden there is conflict.

Mr Franck, I don't think Crash is representative of British Mountain Bikers, I think he is from Orange Texas in the USA so I doubt he'll be in Broadwater Warren any time soon.

That said he does actually make a valid point, dog mess is a nuisance, whether that be in Broadwater Warren or anywhere else for that matter and it seems that some owners don't actually care.

The point being, in life sadly there are always the minority who don't want to obey the rules but they must not be allowed to spoil it for the majority.

For example you are only able to give two cases of when you have been in conflict with cyclists in Broadwater Warren. On the other hand I ride on one of the few legal bridleways on the Ashdown Forest yet it is a regular experience to be verbally and aggressively abused by walkers who think cycling is banned from the whole of the Forest. In fact one dog owner set their dog on a friend of mine. Based on my experience of walkers and dog walkers maybe we should consider banning them from the Forest. But of course this is a nonsense. Personally I put much of the blame on the parents for raising the Play Station generation.

Mr Schorborn lives in London and hopes that his God son will learn to love and respect nature. I have the same wishes for my daughter who would love to ride her mountain bike to keep fit and explore the beautiful countryside on our doorstep, sadly as more and more open spaces are restricted to cycling this becomes increasingly difficult.

On a final note I do find it somewhat contradictory that the RSPB exclude cyclists from the Warren. Most of them will have cycled their under their own non-polluting steam. Instead they encourage the likes of Mr Schorborn to travel down in cars from London, pumping out unnecessary green house gasses and adding to the traffic on country lanes, making it as unsafe to ride a bike on the road as we are unwanted from the countryside.

In this no win situation it is some achievement that currently British, mountain, track and road cyclists are the most successful breed of athletes in the country and for that matter the world!”

“It takes more than the ticking off of a few species of bird to be an environmentalist. Those RSPB supporters so ready to castigate cyclists might wish to consider this when they jump aboard their carbon hungry vehicles to visit Broad Water Warren. Is the fact that the RSPB have created a dog walkers haven generating even more carbon hungry journeys a good thing? May be those that try to stop local cyclists access from this reserve might wish to conduct an environmental impact assessment of themselves before castigating others.”

“If the RSPB gave a reasoned, factual and scientific rationale for banning cycling then we would concede the argument. We all share a love for nature and the outdoors and none of us want to ruin it. If we were damaging it we would not ride there. No body controls the irresponsible dog owner or horse rider but the irresponsible cyclists are educated by other cyclists.

Alan Francks picture is typical of a worried conservationist and reflect the underlying bias and fear of the unknown.

All we ask is equality and not discrimination. We may condemn sexism and racism but not the anti cycling discrimination that prevails in this area.”

“I notice below that mountain bikers have to exercise control over ourselves, as if we are some sort of cover group that meets secretly and knows all other bikers.

To exercise control on each other is impossible - It's like asking every dog owner, horse-rider and creature to be nice, kind and considerate to each other. Its a beautiful ideal, but in the real, everyday world, for every crazy mountain biker there is a crazy walker and so on.

Access to this area should be equal and unconditional. As bikers we are happy to put our names down and have a pass to ride in the area - as horse riders do. If anyone decided to break that rule, that is their own responsibility.

One breaks the rules and spoils it for the many - If that rule follows, then we should perhaps surrender and no-one should have access.

The historical evidence points out that there has been a peaceful and joint access and use by all users in the area. Why this should change due to a new owner, unless the new owner increases numbers - thus adding a larger impact on the environment, and decides to encourage one group and expel the group that is always the first to be ousted.

This whole situation will continue to be debated and probably unsatisfactorily solved. I remain optimistic that we can all use the area in a mutually beneficial way and enjoy the beauty and solitude of the place.”

“The mountain biking community trys to hide the truth, that for every responsible trail rider there is an out-of-control speed freak contemptuous of mere pedestrians and wildlife, but unfortunately the latter are an unfortunate reality and will not go away.

Go to SingleTrackWorld or BikeRadar and see the maniacs being patiently admonished by the more responsible members of the biking community.

Now I probably wouldn¿t mind sharing Broadwater Warren with Iain Anderson (who posts below) on his bike. I don¿t doubt that he is as measured and responsible in his riding as he is posting on this site. But Crash Orange TX? You can picture the Neanderthal looks under the helmet, the snarl on his face as you jump out of the way to avoid being knocked over, the abuse shouted over his shoulder as he disappears at speed.

In his charming way, he asks how ¿minority enviro wackos¿ take charge of parks. In this case, you m***n, the RSPB paid over a million quid to buy the place.

I¿m sorry folks, but until mountain bikers establish some measure of control over their delinquents, access to small, vulnerable sites such as Broadwater Warren just will not happen.

I got a phone call from Greg Clark yesterday, keen to agree with the point that the RSPB has a primary duty to encourage wildlife. If there is no threat to that, or to other users on the site, he wants to encourage the organisation to widen access to responsible cyclists. He said all he wants is for the RSPB to look at the issue again, and if having done that they decide that allowing access to cyclists is impossible, he would support that.

But how do we restrict access to the Iains and keep the Crash Orange TXs away? I don¿t see how it can be done.”

“Mr Schorbon - if the RSPB's main concern is protecting wildlife then why is it encouraging 14000 visitors (30000 visits) to a nature reserve that previously would have seen a very small percentage of that number. Surely encouraging visitors runs counter to protecting a nature reserve. If you're trying to protect the nature then stop the visitors full stop - which none of us want.

It appears that you, as someone from London who lives miles away from this particular patch of woodland, wouldn't mind if you went to watch birds or walk elsewhere. However I live two minutes cycle ride away and I don't have infinite areas to cycle elsewhere - mainly because charities and the wealthy keep buying up large areas of land and enforcing their own set of rules. Imagine how it will be when your Godson grows up - there may be wildlife, but he won't be able to walk in any of it - let alone cycle!

Cycling does not affect bird life any more than walkers, horse-riders or bird watchers do. We should all be banned or all given access.

I'm all for protecting wildlife, but I also want to protect my rights as a human being to have free access to our countryside - just like the birds.”

“When did the minority enviro wackos take charge of parks.I think dog owners should have to buy carbon credits for the mine fields their dogs leave behind!”

“Note to N Schorbon.

Dog walkers are not being exempt from access and yet I would suggest that dogs provide far more disruption than cyclists.

I also challenge that a cyclist will cause more disruption than a walker.

If cyclists are not allowed (in the interest of the wildlife), then walkers and dogs should also not be allowed.

As a previous poster stated, cyclists and walkers have co-existed with each other and the wildlife. The intention is not to ENCOURAGE cyclists to attend but not to restrict the current access and future use.”