Council slammed for “heavy handed” camping ban on Tour de France climb

> I have visions of jobsworths stopping cyclists riding their bikes along closed roads before the race arrives.

Wouldn't be surprised.

Some Fella wrote:

Ive got the feeling this is going to be the first in a catalogue of over officious hi-viz tabard wearing 'officials' with no understanding for the sport of bike racing not 'getting it' and pissing off cycling fans.
I have visions of jobsworths stopping cyclists riding their bikes along closed roads before the race arrives.

Jobsworths like the French police and gendarmes do every year in France? I watches them doing exactly what you describe as "jobsworth" to riders trying to get up Col de Pailheres last year.

You ever had any dealing with ASO, or local bodies in France? Because let me tell you, they make what you call jobsworth seem like light touch regulation.

leqin wrote:

tell me - is there any organisation in Yorkshire who wants the Tour De France to visit the county and for the riders taking part to have a great race and for the people watching it to enjoy themselves, only all we seem to have heard for months is about one spoil sport politically correct tosser after another doing everything they can do to make it a complete waste of effort by those who worked so hard bringing the race to Yorkshire.

When you say "worked so hard" do you mean Welcome to Yorkshire who bade without funding, grossly underestimated the cost and then turned to DCMS and local councils to pay in excess of £20m for something they touted as costing about quarter to half of that at best? So inadequate was the planning that the DCMS insisted on parachuting in an entire new company of experienced major event management to keep things on track and manage elements like this.

It's the councils and authorities having to deal with all the logistics of the event and the clean up afterwards when Welcome to Yorkshire are claiming all the glory of what will be - regardless of actual numbers - sold as a massive triumph. Local authorities on the route have every reason to be aggrieved and opposed given how much they've had to stump up resource-wise to make this happen and how little of the reflected glory they'll be getting.

leguape wrote:

leqin wrote:

tell me - is there any organisation in Yorkshire who wants the Tour De France to visit the county and for the riders taking part to have a great race and for the people watching it to enjoy themselves, only all we seem to have heard for months is about one spoil sport politically correct tosser after another doing everything they can do to make it a complete waste of effort by those who worked so hard bringing the race to Yorkshire.

When you say "worked so hard" do you mean Welcome to Yorkshire who bade without funding, grossly underestimated the cost and then turned to DCMS and local councils to pay in excess of £20m for something they touted as costing about quarter to half of that at best? So inadequate was the planning that the DCMS insisted on parachuting in an entire new company of experienced major event management to keep things on track and manage elements like this.

It's the councils and authorities having to deal with all the logistics of the event and the clean up afterwards when Welcome to Yorkshire are claiming all the glory of what will be - regardless of actual numbers - sold as a massive triumph. Local authorities on the route have every reason to be aggrieved and opposed given how much they've had to stump up resource-wise to make this happen and how little of the reflected glory they'll be getting.

Please don't come, keep your money for your bike humping it up Box ramp.

leguape wrote:

When you say "worked so hard" do you mean Welcome to Yorkshire who bade without funding, grossly underestimated the cost and then turned to DCMS and local councils to pay in excess of £20m for something they touted as costing about quarter to half of that at best? So inadequate was the planning that the DCMS insisted on parachuting in an entire new company of experienced major event management to keep things on track and manage elements like this.

It's the councils and authorities having to deal with all the logistics of the event and the clean up afterwards when Welcome to Yorkshire are claiming all the glory of what will be - regardless of actual numbers - sold as a massive triumph. Local authorities on the route have every reason to be aggrieved and opposed given how much they've had to stump up resource-wise to make this happen and how little of the reflected glory they'll be getting.

So a better plan would be to just tell the Tour de France to piss off and take their silly little bike race back to 4kin France because we don't want it and we don't need it and your a bunch of bloody foreigners anyway so we don't give a toss what you think.

oozaveared wrote:

That's what happens when you have bloated public sector with a screwed up sense of priorities. They invent things to do and then moan that they don't have enough money for essentials. If they have spare lorries and spare council workmen with time on their hands and money enough to procure lots of large boulders, then why don't they fix the bloody potholes?

I see on another thread that you live in the New Forest. I live in Kirklees and know the road in question. I also vaguely know Martyn Bolt, who has done loads of good work for cycling in the area.

In my opinion Martyn is wrong on this one. There is no way that camper vans should be allowed up Holme Moss as the verges aren't big enough. There is a massive drainage channel on one side of the road and the other side is a soft verge leading to a drop. The only way a camper van could park up would involve encroaching on the course itself.

Placing stones to try to prevent selfish people ruining the race for others seems a good use of public money for me. And since I am actually a Kirklees council tax payer it is me who is paying!

Also, a lot of money has been spent on resurfacing the local roads, as well as the actual route of the tour. There will always be some potholes as the area is very hilly, populous and suffers harsh winters. I would be very happy if they resurfaced the road through my village, for example!

As regards the 'bloated' public sector, Kirkless had 11,000 workers in 2010. It had laid off 1,100 of them by 2013 and announced plans for another 1,400 redundancies last October. So rather than 'bloated' I think it is more accurate to describe their resources as threadbare.

Chris James wrote:

oozaveared wrote:

That's what happens when you have bloated public sector with a screwed up sense of priorities. They invent things to do and then moan that they don't have enough money for essentials. If they have spare lorries and spare council workmen with time on their hands and money enough to procure lots of large boulders, then why don't they fix the bloody potholes?

I see on another thread that you live in the New Forest. I live in Kirklees and know the road in question. I also vaguely know Martyn Bolt, who has done loads of good work for cycling in the area.

In my opinion Martyn is wrong on this one. There is no way that camper vans should be allowed up Holme Moss as the verges aren't big enough. There is a massive drainage channel on one side of the road and the other side is a soft verge leading to a drop. The only way a camper van could park up would involve encroaching on the course itself.

Placing stones to try to prevent selfish people ruining the race for others seems a good use of public money for me. And since I am actually a Kirklees council tax payer it is me who is paying!

Also, a lot of money has been spent on resurfacing the local roads, as well as the actual route of the tour. There will always be some potholes as the area is very hilly, populous and suffers harsh winters. I would be very happy if they resurfaced the road through my village, for example!

As regards the 'bloated' public sector, Kirkless had 11,000 workers in 2010. It had laid off 1,100 of them by 2013 and announced plans for another 1,400 redundancies last October. So rather than 'bloated' I think it is more accurate to describe their resources as threadbare.

No I live in Surrey but I am from the New Forest. We have had big bike races in Surrey three or four years on the trot. Pre Olympic test, Olympics, Ride London 100 and TofB. No boulders necessary on any of it. Just signs saying that the road will be closed and not to park or you'll be towed. As far as I know no towing was actually necessary.

And the council must be bloated because they have time enough and people enough and money to engage in this sort of nonsense. But then I guess they've fixed all the potholes and painted all the fences and cut back the bushes in the sight lines at junctions and there's just nothing else that needs doing except the moving of boulders.

Sounds very like 1,100 is not enough and the attitude of the council workers is
"quick....everybody look like they're doing something..what, boulders? Great idea...that'll keep the boys busy for a while. anyone else oh yeah that bunting could be a menace if it gets wet..."

oozaveared wrote:

No I live in Surrey but I am from the New Forest. We have had big bike races in Surrey three or four years on the trot. Pre Olympic test, Olympics, Ride London 100 and TofB. No boulders necessary on any of it.

But you don't know the road in question, unlike me (I've been up it about a dozen times this year) and the local coucil.

oozaveared wrote:

And the council must be bloated because they have time enough and people enough and money to engage in this sort of nonsense. . Sounds very like 1,100 is not enough

So if they put down boulders (that you suspect may be unnecessary, even though you don't know the road in question) then councils are bloated by definition? I think you may be looking to confirm a pre existing bias against the public sector.

As I said in my post the actual job cuts will be 2500 council staff, which may be more to your liking (although what it has to do with you as a Surrey resident I really don't know).

Chris James wrote:

oozaveared wrote:

No I live in Surrey but I am from the New Forest. We have had big bike races in Surrey three or four years on the trot. Pre Olympic test, Olympics, Ride London 100 and TofB. No boulders necessary on any of it.

But you don't know the road in question, unlike me (I've been up it about a dozen times this year) and the local coucil.

oozaveared wrote:

And the council must be bloated because they have time enough and people enough and money to engage in this sort of nonsense. . Sounds very like 1,100 is not enough

So if they put down boulders (that you suspect may be unnecessary, even though you don't know the road in question) then councils are bloated by definition? I think you may be looking to confirm a pre existing bias against the public sector.

Well no council needs to be moving large boulders to stop people parking. That's the issue. You may be right, I am certain that you are, that some parking restriction might be useful at certain point. Surrey has loads of them when there is a bike race but without moving boulders about the place. That's the point. It just sounds fishy. Is the local big boulder salesman related to someone or offering reverse manual donations (backhanders to you) to the Highways department.

Maybe people in Yorkshire are just more badly behaved than average and ordinary parking restrictions warning and sanctions as used in the rest of the country just won't work.

To be honest I think it's got to be a kickback from Boulders R'us.

I don't have an animus about the public sector. There's plenty for them to do. If they did it then everyone would be better off. But for some reason they always complain that the everyday stuff can't be done due to lack of resources but there's never any lack of funds in the budget headed "useless idiocy". Not enough money for potholes and proper council business but plenty of spare bodies, lorries and cash for boulder relocation work.

You are, quite simply bonkers. There is no point debating with you and your bizarre boulder conspiracies.

I feel very confident that the Yorkshire stages of the Tour will blow people's socks off.