Sir, – Paddy Woodworth has quite rightly raised the issues surrounding shared access on the proposed Dodder greenway ("Dodder greenway or cycling highway?", January 23rd).
Give cyclists a good surface plus a 4m-wide track and you’ll encourage the “helmet down, legs pumping, get out of my way” enthusiasts.
Provide everybody with a route of varied widths and surface types, good rangers on the ground and, when necessary, enforcement of byelaws and guidelines, and there will be some hope that all users will have a pleasant experience.
There’s no more heart-palpitating experience, especially for the hard of hearing elderly walker, than having a cyclist come up behind one with no bell-ring or shouted warning and then to whizz past in a rush of air and metal at a hair’s breadth.
It happens regularly to my wife and I walking our local coastal and riverside shared routes, where we no longer cycle.
My own long experience in trying to balance access, recreation and nature conservation as a former head warden on the Causeway coast and latterly as writer of walking, cycling and canoeing guides suggests three words to bear in mind: compromise, patience, firmness.
Keep the Dodder route narrower. Put nature first. – Yours, etc,
PHILIP WATSON,
Bangor,
Co Down.