Penwood woodland activity trail in pipeline
Developers funds of £7,700 to fund scheme
A NEW activity trail for youngsters through Penwood woodland is in the pipeline, thanks to developers’ contributions of some £8,000.
Proposals for the trail – part of the Heathlands and Woodlands improvement project – were discussed at a Highclere Parish Council meeting last Tuesday, following an update by vice chairman, John Stoker, a member of the council’s Penwood regeneration team, in liaison with officers at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
Mr Stoker said he, along with parish councillor Mike Jenkins and clerk to the council, Susan Edwards, recently met with borough council officers, to walk along a potential 1.8km activity trail through woodland at Little Penwood, aimed at ages 14 to 16, on land owned by the borough council.
Mrs Edwards confirmed a total of £7,700 of developer’s funds was available to purchase equipment for the trail, with these funds earmarked for open spaces in the Highclere parish, which includes Penwood.
Mr Stoker handed round drawings of the proposed equipment to go along the trail, of timber, netting and rope construction, while stressing the choice of equipment had not been decided and these were only examples of the type available.
A variety of designs included a mini web, tilted walk, scramble net, net bridge, tram tracks, intertwine, wavy bars, zig-zag stepper and cross beams,
“Initially they [borough council officers] were looking at metal [equipment], but I said it wouldn’t fit well in the woodland environment,” said Mr Stoker.
“The borough council officers said they [wooden equipment] could be vandalised, but I said anything could be vandalised,” he said.
Chairperson, Sally Izett, queried as to whether proposals for a zip wire had been ditched and Mr Stoker confirmed this facility remained under consideration for possible inclusion on the trail.
Mrs Izett, who had also walked along the trail, said it would be a “great improvement”.
“I just hope users of it will appreciate it and not vandalise and trash it,” she said, while thanking Mr Stoker for his work on the project.
Other councillors queried how the trail would be supervised, due to health and safety concerns and Mr Stoker said this would not be possible and a disclaimer would be erected at the start of the trail.
“It would be up to the parents,” he said, adding that the trail would be situated away from any Penwood houses, with the possibility some trees could be named along the trail, for location purposes.
An open access to the woodland, created following the demolition of Penwood Village Hall, in Heathlands, would be closed by putting a log across it, to prevent large vehicles, such as 4x4s, driving down the track of the activity trail.
