Sunshine all day, temperatures far above 20 degrees – finally spring is here. The good weather means that outdoor recreational activities are on the rise again. Like on the trimm-dich-path near oberpurbach. But up there, not only fitness fans meet, but also many dog owners and riders.
The unreasonable of the latter species, to which the legacies of their four-legged friends
kerstin rauch has it in for the people who don't like it. "You sometimes have to walk in a serpentine line to avoid stepping into a pile", the woman from kulmbach, who lives in unterpurbach and often walks along the trim trail, complains. "It was already extremely bad last year, she remembers. She has made the observation that the pollution always increases when the weather is fine.
Not at a loss for excuses
Her most recent encounter with a woman whose poodle had just defecated on the path was quite sobering. When kerstin rauch asked the lady to clean up the pile, it turned out that the walker had neither a cloth nor a bag with her. She was also not at a loss for excuses. "First she claimed that this is allowed in the forest, and then she suddenly said that it was actually not her dog at all", according to kerstin rauch, who can only shake her head at so much ignorance.
For the riders, she says, there is also the fact that the horses "trample" the paths when the ground is wet – with the consequence that in dry weather a crater landscape is formed on which one can very quickly knock over with the fub. She also saw a sign up there that said that horseback riding is not allowed on the trim trail. Is it really so? The bayerische rundschau asked the city of kulmbach about the issue.
For riders partly forbidden
The head of the department, uwe angermann, states that the use of nature – in this area partly state forest, partly forest of the burgerhospitalstiftung – is a fundamental right of the citizens, at least where a ban has not been issued for objective reasons. For riders, however, the latter applies on the nordic walking course, and a sign to this effect is in place. They could only use the path from the hut downhill in the direction of the clinic/state forest border. "From the horse boarding house many start for a ride. We have fulfilled the wish of the riders to be allowed to use this connection."
The ban on the trail, according to angermann, was not about horse droppings, but about the proper use of the trails. And this is not given in wet weather on the water-bound covers.
Sign is ignored
In this context he confirms the complaint of kerstin rauch and admits that some riders ignore the sign. "Forsterin carmen hombach has already addressed the people several times, but they feel restricted in their free development and do not agree with the ban at all."
Disregarding it is, according to angermann, a traffic violation "just like driving your car in a pedestrian zone". Accordingly, bubgeld from 15 to 75 euros are due, depending on whether also a danger to third parties is present.
Control difficult
Uwe angermann female that control, similar to cell phone use in the car, is very difficult. And no one wants to be the bogeyman who tells on others or denounces them. "We can therefore only appeal to the reason of the riders". This also applies to the dog owners who had to dispose of their animals' waste. "But most of them are reasonable."
Among them are kerstin kreiner-bischoff and nina dresel, whom BR met during an afternoon walk with their dogs at the parking lot above oberpurbach. They are – exemplary – equipped with excrement bags and have little understanding for the contemporaries who leave polluted paths behind. "Some also collect the piles and then throw the horns into the forest. I find that kind of thing idiotic, says nina dresel. Even the two women from kulmbach have seen riders who don't care about the prohibition signs.
Your request as dog owners: more mulle buckets at the trimm-dich trail. "There are some on the small round, but not a single one on the large round", according to kerstin kreiner-bischoff, who, together with her husband, has even installed horn dispensers at the bookstore herself.
Bags and more trash cans
This wish shall be fulfilled soon. According to uwe angermann, the city is planning to provide free bags in combination with waste garbage cans at the parking lot and the hut. In total, the city has invested around 40,000 euros since 2012: 31,000 euros for the creation of the nordic walking trail, 5,000 euros for the renovation of the trim-dich stations and the rest for the replacement of a play structure. Angermann: "we always keep an eye on this, because the path is really very well accepted."
But joggers, walkers and strollers want one thing above all else: not to have to constantly walk in serpentine lines between piles of excrement.