The Friends were very disappointed to learn in mid-May that Sustrans would be taking this action. Despite last minute action by both Friends and Manchester City Council officers, in contacting the owner of the land and Sustrans, circumstances were such that Sustrans felt that they had no other option in the short term.
The Friends were under the impression, when the ownership issue was first raised shortly after construction of the first stage of the Loop in April 2002, that the landowner, Sustrans and the City Council would be in negotiations to resolve the issue to everyone's satisfaction, but it seems this was not the case. The Friends have been unable to establish exactly why negotiations failed, or failed to take place. The Friends have, in the past, expressed in writing their concern at the lack of communication between parties and with the Friends and they are particularly upset that the apparent impasse was not brought to their attention sooner to enable them to act as mediators, in the interests of the actual users of this pioneering urban cycle and walking route. The Friends hope that this sad result will encourage both Sustrans and the City Council to be more open with the Friends in the future - now is the time to put policies on community consultation into action. The Friends have also written to the landowner offering to help resolve possible problems at the east end of the route.
Dick Venes (0161 224 3843, richard.venes@which.net) or Costel Harnasz (0161 283 7548)