A cycleway through grounds of a Nantwich college is to be closed – because of safety fears for students.
Reaseheath College has been told it needs to shut the route, a link to the national Sustrans cycleway, because of “increasingly stringent” regulations.
The cycleway was opened about 13 years ago so cyclists could enjoy the attractive grounds of the campus on the way to and from Nantwich.
Now Principal Meredydd David is in talks with Sustrans and town and parish councils about closing this and finding alternative routes.
“We regret having to make this decision and it has not been taken lightly,” he said.
“We will work with our immediate residents, who support the college, to ensure we can develop a process that will enable them to use the route as long as they have received CRB clearance and wear approved visitor identification.
“Regulations and guidance regarding safeguarding students are becoming increasingly stringent.
“It is of paramount importance that we ensure the safety and wellbeing of all 16 – 18 year olds who are in residence.
“This means controlling visitor access to our site. Having a permissive route through campus makes it impossible to meet the stringent care standards set for residential colleges.
“It is for this reason that I have started consultation with Sustrans, local residents and the town and parish councils to inform them that we will be giving notice to close this route.”
If proposals for the large Kingsley Fields development on Reaseheath land is given the go ahead, cycle routes linking into Sustrans national cycleway are likely to be included.
This just sounds like the more usual H&S nonsense. This is a park in public ownership and the Sustrans path was put in with public money. What makes the management think that it puts students at risk? It is residential – so you have security on the buildings. Are all the golf course users going to need to be CRB-checked? Or visitors to Open Days. Delivery drivers maybe?
Do your risk assessments and identify potential areas of weakness and address them. You do not need to ban people from the site. I thought the college wanted more interaction with the local community?