Let's open up these routes for walkers (From Dorset Echo)

Let's open up these routes for walkers

6:40am Saturday 11th July 2009 in Your letters

Further to Harry Hogger’s article on the congestion of the Maiden Castle Road (Echo, June 23) I write to draw your readers’ attention to a campaign being run by South Dorset Ramblers aimed at opening up other means of access from Poundbury to Maiden Castle.

This involves the use of two existing (but blocked up) underpasses beneath the A35 & A37 bypasses, together with the use of existing tracks.

These, at least potentially, offer routes to Maiden Castle avoiding the need to compete with motorised traffic with all the associated risks which were so graphically described in the article.

These routes were proposed in the Poundbury Development Brief of 2006 but have not yet been implemented.

I attended the Dorset Local Access Forum meeting on June 12 as an observer.

The meeting appeared to be generally supportive of the need to open up these routes.

They agreed to set up a working group to look at the matter in greater detail in order to inform a response to the planning application for Phases 3 and 4 of the Poundbury Development, which is expected in July.

The Ramblers campaign, details of which can be found the South Dorset Ramblers website, is aimed firstly at gathering evidence of use of the paths concerned (prior to 1988) and, secondly, at establishing that there is popular demand for the routes to be opened up for public use.

We would very much welcome any evidence or statements of support which readers feel able to offer in support of either (or both) of these aims.

Steve Ryder, Albert Road, Dorchester.