CYLCING IN EALING'S PARKS - 2
CONFUSED OF EALINGHaving posted the original article on this topic I have become more conscious of the signing in Pitshanger Park. IT IS CONFUSING TO SAY THE LEAST!There is one solitary NO CYCLING sign in Pitshanger Park which stands between the bowling green and the tennis courts, facing towards the bowling green. This sign would imply that cycling is prohibited in the whole of the Eastern end of Pitshanger Park, which includes the children’s playground and the children’s play centre. HOWEVER, that area can be accessed by another path on the other side of the tennis courts, and from the park entrance opposite Barnfield Road where there aren’t any NO CYCLING signs. If Ealing Council rescinded its anti-cycling by-laws in 2006, as Anne Reddy suggested, perhaps this solitary sign is a forgotten relic of an earlier era. QUESTION: is cycling in this area allowed or not? ASK EALING COUNCIL!Then there is the footpath running from the bowling green to the Millet Arms past St Mary’s Church Perivale. At the entrance to the path there are overlapping anti-cycling barriers and a green finger sign (partly defaced) which reads “FOOTPATH LEADING TO PERIVALE” Underneath the green sign is blue finger sign pointing away from the footpath and past the bowling green towards Argyle Road which reads PERIVALE ½ followed by the image of a cycle which implies that cyclists should go that way. BUT a few metres down the footpath towards the Millet Arms there is a fairly new blue sign indicating a SHARED PEDESTRIAN/CYCLING PATH. At the other end of the footpath there are similar anti-cycling barriers before the bridge over the Brent, and another blue SHARED PEDESTRIAN/CYCLING PATH sign indicating it is OK to cycle from there to the Millet Arms exit. Entering path from the Millet Arms end there is a blue SHARED PEDESTRIAN/CYCLING PATH sign by the Lych Gate, and on the opposite side of the road is a blue finger sign with a cycle image on it indicating WEST EALING 1½. SO, on balance one might conclude that the footpath between the bowling green and the Millet Arms is a SHARED PATH. On other footpaths from the allotments area and from Argyle Road linking with the ‘SHARED’ footpath at the bridge over the Brent there are no shared pedestrian/cycling signs. QUESTION; Does the presence of the SHARED PATH signs on the ‘footpath’ between the bowling green and the Millet Arms and the absence of shared path signs elsewhere indicate that cycling on other footpaths in Pitshanger Park is NOT ALLOWED? ASK EALING COUNCIL!Looking at the other access points into Pitshanger Park from Argyle Road and Scotch Common there are no SHARED PATH signs anywhere. HOWEVER, at the entrance by the Argyle Road/Scotch Common roundabout there is a green finger sign pointing into the park saying PUBLIC FOOTPATH. On Scotch Common there are two signs – a green finger sign saying PUBLIC FOOTPATH pointing towards the park entrance opposite Kent Avenue, and where that footpath starts is a blue finger sign with a cycle image on it saying PERIVALE ¾. QUESTION: Is there one rule for cycling on the footpaths in Ealing’s open parks and another for cycling on enclosed footpaths like those in Pitshanger Park. ASK EALING COUNCIL!SO, whilst the law against pavement cycling alongside the highways is absolutely clear, but un-signposted, the local by-laws created and enforced by Ealing Council are totally unclear and the signposting is contradictory. CYCLISTS SHOULD ASK EALING COUNCIL TO EXPLAIN THE LOCAL BY-LAWS CLEARLY IN THEIR CYCLING PROMOTION LITERATURE, AND MAKE THEIR OFF-HIGHWAY SIGNAGE CONSISTENT WITH THOSE BY-LAWS!
Tony Purton ● 4520d1 Comments