Jane Bentley and Joan Verschoor, of Bovey Tracey, write:

Work started in mid-December to build a new 'shared' path straight through Mill Marsh park. The grand plan is that this two-metre wide path is shared by parents with toddlers and pushchairs, kids on trikes, the disabled, leisure walkers and dog walkers – and from Easter cyclists will be joining us.

Cyclists were always banned from cycling through the park, presumably for safety reasons. Now we are all being thrown together on a two-metre wide path. It's a recipe for disaster!

The Mill Marsh park Station Road entrance will be the main access route for cyclists linking them to the Wray Valley Trail. This path, although for shared use, is to be marketed as a cycle route as part of the county's push to become a tourism destination for cyclists.

A group of Bovey residents who are regular users of the park have been raising safety concerns with Devon County Council and the Highways Department. They have questioned the slow progress being made and the state of the park during construction. But most importantly, more and more people are growing anxious about pedestrian safety in Mill Marsh park when children once again are able to use the play park.

The new path runs alongside the play park and means, for example, toddlers cannot run freely into the park.

Effective signage and management of this path is crucial to avoid accidents and incidents after the Grand Opening. So a group has got together to help monitor the on-going situation. They are lobbying for good signage and improved safety for all users of the park.

Cllr George Gribble, local county councillor, has been very responsive to the issues they are raising and has encouraged them to carry on trying to improve things.

They have put up a Facebook site to log any incidents caused by cyclists.

The Facebook site is Bovey Tracey our park. We would welcome contact from anyone who has an incident with cyclists or vice versa.

If it is not possible to continue enjoying a leisurely stroll through our park without being harassed by speeding cyclists this is a step too far.MORE LETTERS IN OUR DIGITAL EDITION