Kate Ashbrook, two victories and one continuing fight

Campaigners are urging a council to restore a popular path after it abandoned plans to move its route up a steep-sided valley.

Buckinghamshire County Council wanted to shift the footpath in Happy Valley, near Marlow, on to a steep slope. It received a large number of objections and ditched the idea.

Walkers were cheered by the Happy Valley decision, but pointed out the existing path now needs work on it.

Both the Open Spaces Society and the Ramblers objected to the planned change. Kate Ashbrook, Ramblers’ trustee and general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “We are pleased that the council has seen sense. The proposed diversion around the edge of the field is very steep, so that walkers would be on a dangerous slope. If the path were then to be fenced in it would be even more dangerous.

“One walker has described it as ‘gruesome, even with my stick’.

“The problem is that the existing route along the valley floor has not been properly maintained. It has been fenced to a narrow width, with barbed wire on both sides and a sticky clay soil underfoot. Rather than trying to move this path, the council needs to carry out its duty to ensure that the public can enjoy it safely. It should secure a good, level surface, removal of the barbed wire and, if possible, an increase in the width.

“This is an important and popular route in a beautiful area. Being so close to Marlow, on the south-western edge of the town, it is used by local people as well as visitors. It is described in many guidebooks, including the popular Rambling for Pleasure series published by the East Berkshire Ramblers.”

Ms Ashbrook said the path was originally a field-edge path, but the farmer removed the hedge and fenced it in, changing its character for the worse.

“Now that the diversion plans have been dropped,” she said, “The council should concentrate on restoring this route for the public. We are willing to argue to councillors that this would be money well spent.”

• The OSS is also battling Swansea Council that wants to take away a right of way it says will no longer be used – because it uses a bridge that is no longer there.

The convoluted history of the Slip Bridge on Swansea’s seafront began in 1915 when the steel bridge was built to provide a safe crossing over Oystermouth Road, the main train line from Swansea to Shrewsbury and the Mumbles Railway.

In 2004, the council removed the steel structure, saying it needed extensive renovation and that doing the work on site was impractical. The stone abutments either side of the busy dual carriageway were left in place.

At the time, Mike Hedges, cabinet member for technical services pledged the bridge would be returned. It was never put back in place and now sits, on the ground, on the town’s promenade. The council says the right of way over the existing stone structures either side should be extinguished, along with the theoretical rights across the non-existent footway.

The society argues that the path might well be needed by the public in future to provide a safe crossing, on a historic route, over the busy dual carriageway Oystermouth Road.

The council has made an order to close the path on the grounds that it is not needed for public use and won’t be needed in future.

But Kate Ashbrook said: “There are about 150 objectors to this plan, and we are backing them. Once the path is extinguished it is gone forever and any hopes of restoring a bridge here are dashed. The current pelican crossing is not a suitable alternative route.

“The Slip Bridge path is a vital part of Swansea’s maritime history. It should be celebrated, not extinguished.

“If we can save the route as a public highway, we can then argue for restoration of a safe crossing over Oystermouth Road, to provide access for walkers to the beach.”

• There is happier news for the campaigners with the decision of Staffordshire County Council to register land at Newpool Meadows, Knypersley, near Biddulph, as a town green.

Ellen Faulkner of the Newpool Meadows Action Group, a member of the Open Spaces Society, submitted the application, which was granted after a public inquiry at which both Staffordshire County Council and Staffordshire Moorlands District Council objected. Each owns part of the land.

There have been fears for many years that the land might be used for a housing development. But the inspector, Lana Wood, recommended the land be registered as a green, effectively blocking any such building.

Ms Ashbrook said: “We congratulate the action group and the local residents on their persistence in saving this land. Now their rights to enjoy it for informal recreation are confirmed in law, and it cannot be used for any other purpose.

“This is a vital open space for local people. It has a fascinating history and is an important natural habitat which everyone should be able to enjoy. Now they can do so, forever.”