IT is time a few good things were said about the River Lune Millennium Park and in particular the cycleway from Lancaster to the Crook O'Lune and through to Bull Beck beyond Caton.

It will give families from Lancaster a chance to walk and cycle in a safe area; it will give wheelchair users a chance to enjoy the countryside and use a well surfaced path and with some encouragement it could persuade more people to use their bikes for work and leave their cars at home.

We have plenty of walks on other footpaths, by the river and over the fields for the more agile and energetic.

Once the work is complete, the flora and fauna will return. The city council consulted with the Wildlife Trust and other bodies before the work was started. The Caton district councillors distributed a newsletter in February last year asking for comments on the scheme. Three people contacted me who were against the scheme and two who supported it. The city council roadshow in Caton gave prominence to the plans, local newspapers publicised the whole concept of the Millennium Park with details of the cycleways. It is only now once the work is well advance that people are objecting.

You cannot suddenly bring to a halt a scheme that has taken four years, of thoughtful planning, and consultation to bring to fruition, and that attracts a large amount of money into the city from other sources. The whole concept of the scheme is to make the riverside more important to residents and visitors. Let as many people as possible enjoy it.

Cllrs Pat Quinton & Joyce Pritchard

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.