Comments on Council Letter

Copy of email sent by Save Our Bryn supporter to David Jones, MP

Dear Mr Jones
Thank you for your continued support of our battle to keep Bryn Euryn an unrestricted open public space. You previously mentioned you would be interested in viewing the covenants regarding the area when they arrived. We have posted most of the pages on our blog site, the rest to follow shortly. Tony Morgan has shown me the letter you received from Stuart Davies and I would like to add my comments to the ones he has already sent to you.
I feel that the council are rather missing the point in so far as the Bryn is unique in the area because it has no restrictions due to animal grazing. Only Eirias Park provides a similar open space to take our children and dogs, but that required a car or bus ride and is also earmarked for further developments in the near future. The beach has restrictions for part of the year and obviously is governed by the tides.
As for the comment about people may like to see the animals, 'see' maybe but having to walk through them may be a totally different proposition. We are surrounded by grazing livestock on every hillside, field and nature reserve so I feel these people are already well catered for. The recent article criticising the dog walkers for allowing their dogs to foul the area (the minority I might add) makes no mention of what it would be like with livestock, and who would clear that?
My neighbour who has no dog is irate about the whole idea from the point of view of animal and children safety. It would have to be very impressive fencing and gates to keep all dogs out while walking in the woods. So will we then be required to keep all dogs on leads over the whole area? Also who's going to protect livestock from drunken youths late at night? Would this be shifting the bill for strimming from the council to the police, and any farmer can tell them that fences need maintaining and livestock need water and regular checks.
I met a young woman today who has been exploring the Bryn ready to bring her children during the holidays. She was looking forward to them being able to run free and have fun without her having to worry that they'd be in danger from large grazing animals. It seems so unfair that grass is getting priority over people. Has it come to the point when we are just an inconvenience when it comes to 'managing' nature. I used to be a volunteer with countryside services until I started to question the annually cutting back of healthy young tree saplings to artificially protect areas where nature was doing it hardest to cover with woodland. This selection is the current in thinking but no doubt at some point all this will change as a new theory on conservation takes presidence. Meanwhile why not just let young and old enjoy the freedom to admire the views, enjoy the sound of crickets in the long grass and stop trying to manage everything. No doubt the strimmers will still be out cutting back the woodland paths and decapitating the orchids as they did this year, or are we paying for that separately?
Sorry to go on so but I feel we are banging our heads on a bureaucratic machine driven by people who have no knowledge of the strong community spirit we enjoy on the Bryn. We do all in our power to protect it, notify the authorities of problems, clear litter, cans and broken glass. I don't feel the council has any idea how much we actually save them with our efforts and good will.
Sincerely your