Indeed.pete75 wrote: ↑6 Apr 2023, 8:29pmI'd wager lots of money the early Clarion clubmen would have ripped them all down.mjr wrote: ↑6 Apr 2023, 8:19pmI wouldn't recommend it unless the OP is confident that they can do a tidy job, safely, and not get caught. But cycle campaigners have definitely been doing it for years. I know two barriers that I believe were removed by mystery men (for it is usually men) with angle grinders and hi-viz in King's Lynn, hastening their removal by years. I also know of one where money was wasted putting the barrier back, with minor modifications which still don't make it legal but do make it more difficult to remove (whether legally or not). And I seem to recall John Grimshaw likes direct action. So it's a proud tradition. I expect CTCers used to be a bit more direct-action-y before it became known as Cycling To Cake.pwa wrote: ↑5 Apr 2023, 6:20pmIt is the daft suggestion of using an angle grider that is funny.
Are you recommending the OP to go out with an angle grinder? Please say so if you really are recommending that. My own advice would be to not do that because if they got caught they could be in trouble. Yes, they could engage a smart lawyer and fight it in the courts, but I doubt most of us would want to go down that path.
Compare that with the glacial pace of council work. Back in November, ours announced the removal of five barriers. They actually only removed four and forgot one. They said then that the remaining one (about four-fifths of the way along the route) would be removed imminently. It was still there last week.
My suggestion of issuing a battery powered angle grinder was tongue-in-cheek (hence the emoticon) however there is a more serious point that you can campaign all you want but it will be a long wait for action. Perhaps the Kinder Scout ramblers should have been good citizens and not broken the law to obtain the access to the hills that we all enjoy?
On a pragmatic level, a barrier that is removed by direct action will probably stay removed (costly to replace) and by the same token, one that is not removed will probably stay there for a long time (costly to take out). As for community service- well the polis have to catch the remover first, and given how good the polis are at catching bike thieves and the miscreants who ride motorcycles through the anti-motorcycle barriers, I cannot see much chance of that.
I'm not normally one to contemplate breaking the law but sometimes the total ignoring of a community who only wants fair access is justified, so I'm not going to criticise those persons who have removed the barriers. I WILL strongly criticise anyone involved with Sustrans and any council cycle officers who condone these barriers, given that they present a significant barrier to any type of cycling except that done by fit persons (normally males) on standard DF bikes- so no tandems, cargo bikes, trailers, cargo trikes, hand cycles etc- in fact any form of cycle that makes the cycle a car replacement in fact.
Incidentally, I ride a trike by preference and am no longer strong enough to lift it over all types of barriers. However, for the record, I don't possess a battery powered angle grinder nor do I have access to one.
TPO