Cycling in Wanstead Park breakthrough

Wanstead has some very happy cyclists about. The authorities of Wanstead Park, the City of London – known as @CoLEppingForest on Twitter – has installed signs indicating that an extra path has been opened up to genteel cyclists, but with pedestrian priority. The new shared section runs from the Wanstead Park Avenue entrance, skirting Heronry Pond round to the existing shared use path which runs down from Warren Road.

Particularly welcome news for Wanstead residents wanting to explore the park, and also for Aldersbrook kids wanting to cycle up towards Wanstead schools.

https://twitter.com/nick_affleck/status/492693199975354368

PS. One thing though – “permissive” used to be a dirty word didn’t it?

9 thoughts on “Cycling in Wanstead Park breakthrough”

  2. Brilliant news. The more kids that can get to school by bike, the fewer cars during the morning gridlock. We’ll be using this for sure to get to Aldersbrook.

  3. I’m pleased that this has finally happened – but it has taken years since this was first mentioned and it is also a long time since it was promised. Although people have used this route to cycle for years – I recall the irony of being told off for doing so by park wardens, sat in their car.

    The tardiness with which this has progressed may be linked to who controls the park – an undemocratic (still has the business vote) local authority whose eastern boundary is seven miles distant from the park – the City of London Corporation will always have bigger fish to fry than its faraway parks; it’s time we had local democracy and the park passed into the control of LB Redbridge.

    1. We moved to Wanstead after 10 years living in The City… Democratically elected or not, I know which the most proactive local authority out of the two was, and it’s not the one brining with R! The infrastructure of Wanstead, especially the state of the pavements is dreadful! I’m glad I ‘only’ have a pushchair and not a wheelchair or a walking stick and I’m glad I’m not elderly and that I have fair eyesight!

  4. Whilst I agree that the City of London is undemocratic and “far away” I would much rather this very wealthy corporate body own the land rather than any cash stricken local authority which may be tempted to sell part of the land for a quick buck.

  7. Great News.

    I don’t cycle but I do Nordic walk on Sunday mornings. I recently saw a pretty agressive dog owner shouting at genteel cyclists – as if dog owners are the only ones with a right to the park.

    One cyclist was bitten by a dog – and made to feel it was her fault for cycling. Rather than the dog owner having no control over her dog.

    Now that we have established that cyclists can cycle – can we establish the policy on where dogs may be taken off the leash PLEASE.

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