Anger as Shropshire beauty spot car park is shut due to vandals
A spate of vandalism at a Shrophire beauty spot has led to the car park being closed between 8pm and 8am, much to the dismay of local walkers.
Earls Hill Nature Reserve, near Pontesbury. attracts thousands of walkers a year and recently Shropshire Wildlife Trust has expanded the car park and levelled the main footpath.
But vandals have targeted the site, leading the wildlife trust to take the decision to close barriers to the car park.
Locals who use the hill year round say the closure of the barriers is extreme and will penalise walkers who use the car park to access the hill early in the morning before 8am.
The Friends of Pontesford Hill raised £265,000 in 2015 enough to allow Shropshire Wildlife Trust to buy the landmark from a private landlord.
In a letter to Colin Preston, CEO of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Tim Ward, who visits the hill three to four times a week, year round, said: "To close the car park for 12 hours every day beggars belief.
"To remove the access of the car park is way out of proportion and penalises 99.99 per cent of those visiting the hill before and after work. Furthermore, this is going to cause problems for those needing to use the lane to access their homes as there are very few places to park.
"Closing the car park is not going to deter individuals from petty vandalism, but it will cause huge inconvenience for every other visitor and this reflects very badly on Shropshire Wildlife Trust."
Concerns over cattle
Mr Ward also raised concerns over cattle which have been introduced to graze the land.
"The announcement that the Dexter cattle will be returning has caused a lot of upset amongst the regular visitors to the hill. Many people avoided using the hill when the cattle were there last summer," he said.
"The cattle often congregated on a very narrow path where there are no alternative routes to go around.
"Allowing a couple of hobby farmers the preferential right to graze their cattle on the hill is preventing many people from visiting.
"At a time when the public should be actively encouraged to exercise and get closer to nature, you’re effectively rationing something that should be available 24 hours a day.
"The hill was saved by the community and that very community is now being slowly pushed out by these changes."
Mr Ward added: "This seems like they have taken a sledgehammer to crack a nut."
Clive Dean, Shropshire Wildlife Trust's reserves officer for south Shropshire said the decision had been taken to close the barrier after a large concrete bin was dislodged and rolled down the slope into a neighbouring field. He also said that groups of teenagers would regularly congregate in the car park creating noise and rubbish.
Mr Dean said he hoped the car park would reopen round the clock once the problem had been dealt with.
