Longleat ban on walkers will stay
3:00pm Sunday 12th February 2012 in Latest News By Will Frampton
Longleat CEO David Bradley
Longleat CEO David Bradley has defended the move to exclude dog walkers and cyclists from the inner areas of the estate.
The park, which reopens for paying customers on Saturday, was criticised by locals last week who saw the ban as infringing a decades-old tradition of access.
However, Mr Bradley claimed the restriction was necessary for reasons of security, safety and to prevent people visiting attractions without buying tickets.
It applies to the immediate grounds of the house, safari and adventure parks, as well as the surrounding formal ‘gardens’ and pleasure walk.
The boundary is marked by gates and blockers.
“We have probably not been clear enough on this historically, which is a bit typical, but the estate is private land, not a public park,” he said.
“We have a lot of families here with children, and you shouldn’t put dogs with children. We can’t have them around the safari park for obvious reasons.
“There is also the problem of dog mess, we’ve had people driving into the estate in the evening and just letting their dogs out for a quick run around without cleaning up after them. It is a health hazard for people and our livestock.”
Mr Bradley said security was another concern, both due to the value of the house and its contents, and the problem of ticket dodgers.
“You can’t get into Stourhead or any other attraction like this without buying a ticket,” he said.
“To ensure the future of the house, the estate and the 850 jobs we provide we have to be a successful business.
“We have extended our season and when the park is open people can buy an annual pass which averages out to 16p a day.
“Otherwise we’ve not closed off the entire area, people can take their dogs or bikes to Heaven’s Gate or Shearwater or anywhere else in the other 8,000 acres of the estate.”
Longleat’s management, possibly including owner Viscount Weymouth, are planning to field public questions at a meeting in Warminster at a future date.
The park re-opens on Saturday.
