Alright, let me tell you about this whole “pedone vs parks” thing I got myself into a while back. It wasn’t some big legal battle for me personally, more like a neighborhood headache that I just couldn’t ignore.
It all started when I was just taking my usual walk. There’s this nice little shortcut path I always used, cuts right through a corner of the local park. Saves a good five minutes, you know? Well, one day, bam! A shiny new fence and a sign. ‘Park Area Only – No Through Access’. Just like that. My shortcut, gone.
Now, I wasn’t the only one using it. Lots of folks did, especially older people going to the shops and kids heading towards the school bus stop. It seemed pretty silly to block it off. So, I started asking around. Talked to a few neighbors while walking the dog. Turns out, everyone was pretty annoyed but figured, what can you do? It’s the Parks department, right? They just do stuff.
Getting Involved
That kinda rubbed me the wrong way. “They just do stuff” isn’t a good enough reason for me. So, I decided I’d try and figure out why. First step, I called the main Parks office number. Got bounced around a bit, typical phone tree stuff. Finally talked to someone who basically said it was a ‘safety and boundary delineation’ issue. Sounded like pure bureaucracy talk to me.
Okay, phone calls weren’t cutting it. Next, I actually went down to the Parks main office. Took an afternoon off work, which already felt like a big deal. Sat in a waiting room for ages. Finally got to speak to someone, a supervisor type. I explained the situation, how useful the path was, how many people used it. He pulled out a big map, showed me the official park boundary. The path, technically, cut across a tiny corner that wasn’t officially designated as a walkway on their ancient plans.
He said things like:
- It was never an official path.
- There were liability concerns.
- They were trying to encourage people to use the main park entrances.
It felt like talking to a wall. A very polite wall, but still a wall. He showed me regulations, highlighted paragraphs. It was all very official, but completely ignored the reality of how people actually used the space. It felt like common sense just wasn’t part of the equation.
The Slow Grind
I wasn’t ready to give up. I talked to more neighbors, got about a dozen people interested. We drafted a simple letter, explaining our point of view, and we all signed it. Sent it off to the Parks department head and our local council representative.
Weeks went by. Nothing. I followed up with emails. More waiting. Finally, got a standard form letter back acknowledging receipt. Wow, thanks. Our council rep was a bit more helpful, said they’d ‘look into it’.
We even went to a local council meeting. Stood up during the public comment section, explained the path issue again. Lots of nodding heads from the council members, promises to ‘discuss it with Parks’. Felt like a small victory, but honestly, I wasn’t holding my breath.
This dragged on for months. More emails, a few more calls. Sometimes we’d get a slightly different explanation, sometimes the same old story. It was exhausting. Felt like they were just waiting for us to get tired and go away. And honestly, some people did drift off. Life gets busy.
Where We Ended Up
So, did we win? Did the path reopen? Nope. The fence is still there. Stronger now, actually. They even planted some thorny bushes along it.
What we did get, eventually, was a slightly rerouted official path inside the park. It adds maybe two minutes to the walk compared to the old shortcut. It’s something, I guess. A compromise nobody really asked for, but it’s better than nothing. The Parks department presented it like a major win, a generous gesture on their part.
The whole experience was… enlightening. It showed me how easy it is for official rules and reality to drift apart. And how hard it is for ordinary folks, the ‘pedone’ in this case, to push back against the ‘parks’ bureaucracy, even on something small. You just gotta keep pushing, even if you only move the needle a tiny bit. That’s what I took away from it, anyway. Still kinda miss that shortcut, though.
