Help us to prevent a vanishing path network! Many well-loved paths are threatened with neglect and extinction due to local authority budget cuts within the Area.
Access to footpaths is an ancient English right which teaches us about history and heritage. You may not realise how many paths you use in just one day - as you walk to the station, your children to school, or as a shortcut to local shops, let alone the paths you use when going on city or country rambles at the weekend.
In this time of economic difficulties, the government are looking to make severe cuts to community services. Whilst there is a strong argument about saving jobs and important provisions such as healthcare, walking can contribute to the economy in a variety of ways and avoid the council’s ‘false economy’.
Cuts today could drastically increase council spending with bills of ‘thousands’ per year in damages, repairs and legal disputes and court fees in the near future. Currently the Ramblers work in conjunction with a dedicated team of council rights of way officers, allowing mediation between the public and landowners to ensure that paths are in good repair, and that issues are nipped in the bud before they reach legal dispute stage. Rights of Way teams were established as essential units for each local authority in the 1980s. Since then, they have saved councils billions of pounds in repair bills and legal costs.
Ramblers Association spokeswoman Ruth Somerville states: "Any cuts will mean that it is no longer experts looking at these issues but rather just the local highways departments. This means you get more problems pilling up which ultimately just costs more money for councils.
"The foot and mouth crisis caused the countryside to be pretty much shut down and this affected everybody from accommodation providers to pubs and really just showed us how much money walking brought to the economy.
"It will take its toll obviously. We are talking about issues that effect peoples' ability to get from A to B.
"The October spending review is likely to threaten rights of way. Already local authorities have started to make cuts to their rights of way teams. At the moment it is just a case of sitting back and waiting."
Ramblers Dead End campaign. http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Campaigns+Policy/deadend
In our Area we have already seen examples of cutbacks:
Doncaster Council is under severe threat of making cut backs to our public footpath network. The council faces a £15,000 cut despite the council already needing £50,000 to replace a bridleway bridge that was destroyed by vandalism. The work that was deferred from the last financial year will compound the problems already faced.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council – cannot /will not find the money to replace a foot-bridge across the river Dearne.
Tell us about your experiences of neglected paths:
Drastic cuts are threatening our path network, in particular the local and much-loved community paths. Put your foot down and take action today to stop the threat of rationalisation by neglect. If you encounter any path in your area which are being neglected please let us know. For example, you may have reported an obstruction on a local path which the local authority cannot afford to resolve, or you may be aware of other paths which are being left to fall into disrepair as they are not a 'priority'. Please give as much information as you can - the location of the path, if you have contacted the local authority and their response.