Richard, you’re sounding very out of touch. Milne and Cherry listen to their community and know there is strong support for rail services, just as there always has been. “Unrest” will naturally occur when it’s planned to remove any chance of that happening in the future. It’s not up to Milne or Cherry, the community will do it themselves!
The rail trail isn’t much of “community path” when using most of it would only suitable to a very small group of people, ie cyclists with the right equipment, fitness and importantly vast amounts of time to kill. That branding feels like a bit of a slap in the face when most locals, myself included, either cannot use it or would have no use at all for it.