Dear Sirs

You may be aware of a number of recent changes within West Lydford, the River Brue area in particular:

•  Significant increase in wild swimming in the river, resulting in parking and litter issues
• Local concerns over visitor street parking, use of footpaths and trespass

To counter this many signs and barriers have been created to reduce trespass, access to private river frontage and to improve safety. However this has caused increased official footpath usage, and highlighted safety issues and the lack of disability access.

In addition the local community has set up safety patrols and litter picking groups.

On most of these issues we are trying to implement local solutions but a few fall into the Mendip Councils' areas of responsibility, specifically:

• Lack of disability and child buggy access to and across the Church foot bridge
• Lack of low level barriers along the footbridge, with the potential of slipping and falling of children and animals from height into the river.
• The Mead Lane bridge replacement; this was a very useful river crossing for disability and baby buggies, but its loss, and the locking of private unauthorised access, is depriving the community of access to the footpaths to the west side of the River Brue.

We the undersigned would like to petition the Mendip District Council to install safety mesh along both sides of the lower sections of St Peter's Church footbridge.

Also give a clear and reasonable timescale for the replacement of Mead Lane Bridge for wheeled disability and child buggie access.