Farmers confuses walkers with joyriders

lostexpectation

Letters to the Editor: The price of letting walkers on my land is the mess they leave

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2765-2350649,00.html

Where in this letter does the farmer describe walkers?

guildofevil

I don't think he is really saying that it's the walkers doing it, but the fact that it is now a marked hill-walking route is pointing it out to people as a handy spot for dumping their waste, joyriders dumping cars, couples “frolicking in the wilderness”, etc.

I think what he's trying to say is that you are better off staying off peoples radar than inviting ramblers onto your land.

I know it's sad but if that what is happening to his property, I can understand his anger and frustration.

Mad Finn

I live in a laneway close to the canal in South Dublin.

Because of the prostitution problem which has been prevalent on the canal since at least the 1960s, and because their clientele frequently drive into the comparative seclusion of the surrounding laneways to transact business, we are frequently forced to remove other people's used condoms from our doorsteps.

It is also not unknown for people to dump decrepit cars there rather than pay to have them scrapped. This means that we have to wait a few weeks so that the council can decide the car really has been dumped before removing it. This puts considerable pressure on the already limited car parking space for residents.

Should we demand to have our laneway fenced off and only allow access to residents? Should we demand a €5,000 euro grant from the council for the 'hardship' (the letter writer's words not mine) endured?

Gimme a break.

It's not that I don't sympathise with the farmer. I do. But the onus should be on 'How can we open up the countryside to recreational walkers with the support of the farming community?' not thinking up good reasons why we should not do so.

guildofevil

Mad Finn wrote:

Because of the prostitution problem which has been prevalent on the canal since at least the 1960s, and because their clientele frequently drive into the comparative seclusion of the surrounding laneways to transact business, we are frequently forced to remove other people's used condoms from our doorsteps.

It is also not unknown for people to dump decrepit cars there rather than pay to have them scrapped. This means that we have to wait a few weeks so that the council can decide the car really has been dumped before removing it. This puts considerable pressure on the already limited car parking space for residents.

While I can empathise with your situation (I live in Dublin city centre myself) and do not think anyone should have to endure what you do, your situation is somewhat different to the farmers.

As you stated, prostitution has been a problem there since the 1960's. It is not something which has just sprung up because of a new mark on a map. Your road is not under peoples radar and never was.

The farmer, on the other hand, was fine until he gave permission for the hill walk on his land to be marked and now he has a lot of trouble. Effectively, having the hill walk on his land is causing him inconvenience and costing him money.

If he is not compensated for his losses and nothing is done to help him with the problems caused by the hill walk, then it is going to serve as a disincentive to other farmers to allow similar walks on their land.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think the arbitrary five grand for the inconvenience is the solution either, but he shouldn't be out of pocket and some help cleaning up the crap left behind isn't too much to ask. Otherwise he could just throw his hat at it and let the walk turn into a pile of filth. That would be easier and cheaper for him but would not help the hillwalkers much.