The council has a duty to keep paths in order
Planned cutbacks to the footpath service of one of England’s most popular holiday destinations could land the authority with extra bills, a pressure group says.
Northumberland County Council will be ‘shooting itself in the foot’ if it goes ahead with proposals to cut three posts from its rights-of-way and countryside management staff. Almost 7m holidaymakers to the Northumbrian coastal area contribute £115m to the local economy each year.
The Open Spaces Society, which campaigns for public footpaths, is urging the authority to reinstate cash to next year’s budget to enable the area to capitalize on the trend for holidaymakers to stay within Britain as the recession bites.
The society has written to councillors expressing its concern at the cuts.
Kate Ashbrook, the OSS’s general secretary, said: “Northumberland is heavily dependent on tourism for its income, and many visitors come to the county to walk, ride and cycle on its public paths. They generate staggering sums of money for the region.
“But if the paths are neglected, blocked or unmarked, people will be deterred from visiting the area. So the county is shooting itself in the foot if it makes cuts to this vital service.
“The council will not be able to deliver the excellent vision it has set out in its rights-of-way improvement plan: ‘to manage and maintain a public rights-of-way network in Northumberland which enables the public’s use of rights of way for recreation and purposeful journeys as well as promoting wider countryside access and contributing to the social and economic wellbeing of residents of the county and the health and enjoyment of its local communities and visitors’.
“The plan notes that ‘constant work is required to address obstructions to rights of way, ensure the repair and replacement of surfaces, stiles, gates, bridges, signage and waymarking’. Clearly that constant work cannot continue if the swingeing cuts are made.
“The county council has a legal duty to ensure the paths are in good order. If they are in poor repair, frustrated users may decide to serve legal notices on the county to force it to sort out the problems. The cost of defending these cases will be far greater than the cost of the work to put the paths right in the first place.
“We applaud the council’s countryside and rights of way management team for the work it does. Long may it continue – but it needs the budget to do so.”
