I've been appointed Style monitor!

Actually that should read 'stile' monitor - remember the snow - well sledgers left loads of stuff - see here - one of the ways we are looking at how to reduce the massive mess is to pin up notices when the snow comes - see photos. This seems to have reduced some of the mess. I also have raised the issue at Scrutiny and a meeting is planned between interested parties to see what other solutions are possible.

One of the problems is that police are too busy during heavy snow to deal with the criminal damage to fences and more - the cost to some local farm owners has been very high. Well there are now a handful of stile monitors that each have a couple of stiles to pin up notices on when the snow comes again.

While I'm on stiles I have also heard back from the County regarding the damaged stiles in the Ruscombe Valley - as they note "this matter is not straightforward and will not be completely resolved for a while."

Here is the comment: "As reported previously, 2 of the 4 stiles are not on the legal line of the public footpath. The Sports Court was constructed across the path, the stiles were located around the edge of the court but the path was never legally diverted. The priority however has to be the condition of the structures. As the stiles are not on the legal line of the footpath but it appears that the County Council owns the land, I have arranged for all 4 to be modified/ replaced as necessary. This will be in the new year. From a legal point of view, this path will at some point need to be officially diverted because a walker can insist on his right to walk the legal line of the path, even if kids are using it! Who pays for this omission is presently under discussion."