LETTERSFrom Canon Michael Weaver, area dean of West Wight:
I WRITE to voice strong objections to the cycling event held last Sunday in the West Wight.
I am a lover of sport and enjoy seeing cyclists, runners, walkers, etc. using the great countryside of West Wight.
However, to allow 600 cyclists to use our narrow lanes and roads, many with no pavements, without, as far as I know, any public consultation is very inconsiderate and highly irresponsible.
Roads were closed and movements restricted for many hours on Sunday morning, all to accommodate an extreme sport.
Children were dissuaded from crossing roads to playing fields and skate parks. The elderly prevented from their usual Sunday routines. For example, some could not be dropped at their church but told they would have to walk.
I write not just on behalf of churchgoers but the wider community here who mostly encourage sporting activity. But this was a step too far.
What next? Perhaps a TT motor bike race, then a racing car Grand Prix? Ridiculous? I wonder?
I would like to know who gave permission for Cycle Wight, and who, if any in the wider community, were consulted beforehand.
I do hope that those in authority will take serious notice of these objections before this event is proposed again.