NO CYCLING on Cannon Hill Common

A few brand new signs have sprouted up on Cannon Hill Common. Good to see our hard-earned council tax is going on such worthy projects:

"No Cycling on Cannon Hill Common". Why not? Cycling is a legitimate leisure pursuit. It's healthy and no more damaging to the Common than other activites. Like other sports such as kite-flying or ball games, and activities like dog-walking, it needs to be done responsibly and with consideration to other Common users.

So what's unique about cycling that makes it necessary to ban it? From a safety point of view, there's no evidence to show that cycling causes an undue number of accidents, compared to other activities such as dog-walking etc., and for cyclists it's likely to reduce accidents if the alternative is cycling on-road. There are plenty of other open spaces where cycling is permitted. In fact, on some of the paths on Cannon Hill Common, it is permitted. The council's stance makes no sense. The Council should be encouraging healthy activities - in which case it should be looking at what it needs to do (if anything) to permit cycling on the Common, rather than spending money putting up notices banning it.