Mountain bikers lament loss of Poor Farm trails
The Flats at Poor Farm Park in Ashland has some of the best trails for children and beginners in the Richmond Metro area, and we’re about to lose them for more ball fields. I know Hanover County is a little out of the coverage area for James River News Hub, but there are many mountain bikers and […]
The Flats at Poor Farm Park in Ashland has some of the best trails for children and beginners in the Richmond Metro area, and we’re about to lose them for more ball fields.
I know Hanover County is a little out of the coverage area for James River News Hub, but there are many mountain bikers and Richmond MORE members that read this site. NBC12’s Sunni Blevins reported on this story and had comments from Hanover Parks and Recreation:
Starting next week, crews will begin clearing some trees at Poor Farm Park in order to make room for new athletic fields…And clearing land often comes with controversy. Earlier this week, more than three dozen people voiced their concerns at a meeting about the plans for Poor Farm Park.
“We know we have a lot of users, walkers, joggers, I think there are mountain bikers that certainly used that area, and they are concerned whenever they lose a portion of what they’ve been using for 15 or 20 years,” Sager said.
Richmond MORE also had comments on its Facebook page:
Notes from Monday night’s meeting with the Hanover Parks Department
We have some good news and some bad news to report.
First the bad news… you have less than two weeks to get in your last rides on the flats at Poor Farm Park. About 50% of the flats are going to be clear cut to make way for playing fields and parking lots (see the Hanover Parks Master Plan – note that the softball fields are not part of this round of construction and may not ever be built). The construction contracts are already in place and demolition is scheduled to start within the next two weeks.
The goods news is that there was a large turn out for the meeting. Every one of the 30-40 people in attendance was a trail user of one kind or another. A large majority of the crowd voiced their opinion about their love for the trails and their desire to see them remain unchanged. There were two comments made to attempt to organize the users to work with the county. One speaker suggested RaMORE work with the county like they had done in JRPS with the city of Richmond. Greg Rollins (RaMORE President) suggested anyone interested meet with the county at a later date to discuss how to organize and work to maintain the trails. The county took note of the comments and suggestions, but made no commitments.
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