Concern on grazing of cattle to preserve commons habitat

I WANT to express my concerns regarding the proposed grazing of Highland Cattle on Wadsley and Loxley Common in the north of Sheffield.

Funding (£100,000 over 10 years) is to be provided by Natural England in order to manage the common land and try to preserve the area at lowland heath, as this type of habitat is said to be threatened.

Proposals have been put forward so that the Common will be split into three areas, all to be fenced with permanent stock fencing and accessible via kissing gates, or we are told with larger self closing gates for use by horse riders.

To my mind the proposals pose many problems, and although maintaining the heathland is important, many issues have not been considered when the details have been provided.

The consultation meeting at Wadsley Church was not as anyone had expected and to be honest I was made to feel guilty in taking up the time of the staff who were supposed to be there to help us.

Our comments were simply noted to be looked at later and I worry that they will just be dumped in the bin.

The Common is used by many groups of people, walkers with or without dogs, riders and children to name but a few. Access for all of these groups will be severely compromised by the presence of cattle and the required fencing and gates.

We are told that the animals chosen are docile (so docile that they are to be de horned!), but at the end of the day cows are cows and any animal can be unpredictable. I could write all day about the possible implications as a result of a mix of cattle and people/dogs/horses in the same fenced area.

My own personal concern is that for the safety of myself and my friends, who use the Common on a daily basis to ride. This is the only local, off road area in which we can exercise our horses without the worry of traffic. There are limited bridleways in the area, and our presence on the roads is often made unwelcome by the sheer impatience and rudeness of some drivers.

What can be done to make the council see that this proposal will seriously affect a Common that was gifted to the citizens of Sheffield for in 1913 “to be held in trust for the perpetual use and enjoyment of the public”.

This will no longer be the case.

From: Mrs NJ Strachan, Leaventhorpe Lane, Thornton, Bradford.

THE Government is proposing to relax planning regulations to make it easier to develop green belt land, supposedly to boost the economy. At the same time there is concern that town and city centres are dying, with an increasing number of empty shops.

The more housing developments that are created in green belt areas, with supermarkets to service them, the more the town/city centres will decline, especially when parking is difficult and expensive, and public transport expensive, unreliable and sometimes non-existent.

Surely it would make more sense to impose penalties in the form of a tax on the development of green belt sites, which developers consider cheaper and easier to work, and give tax incentives to encourage the development of brown field sites (Yorkshire Post, September 7), empty mills, warehouses, etc, not to mention empty houses and flats, which are nearer the centres?

If people lived within walking distance of the town centres they would be encouraged to shop there, which would create the demand for a wider variety of shops and markets, instead of the current selection of charity shops, pound shops, games arcades and a few clothes shops.

From: Graham Branston, Emmott Drive, Rawdon.

IN our urban society, green belt areas in close proximity to towns and cities are invaluable and should be closely protected. Greg Mulholland, MP for North West Leeds (Yorkshire Post, September 6), is absolutely right to express concern and table a Commons motion to debate the implications of relaxing planning regulations.

There is a dilemma in that building does stimulate the economy, but it should not be at the expense of green belt areas. Once they have gone, it is for ever. The relaxation could spectacularly backfire.