Footpath No. 4 alongside Tesco showing the problematic narrow section and sloping link

The public inquiry into the future of footpath no. 4, which passes through the Tesco site and the adjacent Persimmon housing development, concluded this morning.

This followed a site visit earlier to look at the two routes involved in the inquiry. These are the existing legal route which is now obstructed by houses and the new route proposed by Lincolnshire County Council to become the legal route which is that Persimmon created.

The County Council wants an independent inspector to give approval for two legal orders. One abolishes the existing obstructed route whilst another creates a new legal route for the footpath along the Persimmon route. This wouldn’t change what is now existing on the ground.

The Town Council and myself have concerns about Persimmon’s new route. These include the width, visibility along the route, and a unsuitable sloped section link to the Tesco section. These are a problem now and will become a greater problem as use of the footpath increases with further house building along its route in Deeping St James.

We suggested that it would be better if the route followed what Persimmon’s own plans showed and went along the private driveway serving three houses. This is not ideal, residents have made clear their concerns about risks both to themselves and users of the path, but it has seemed to be the only likely way in which the footpath can be made an appropriate width.

Rather late in the day however, the County Council have during the inquiry indicated they might be able to increase the width of the path alongside the driveway and carry out works to improve the sloped section.

This would be very welcome. The difficulty we had at the inquiry though was understanding exactly how far this would go to addressing our concerns. This is because clear plans as to the changes aren’t yet available.

The County Council have said that they would move the knee-rail fencing slightly to allow the path to be a little wider. However, the actual widening of the tarmac surface would not be funded by them. They’ve said they’ll seek funding from Persimmon. That does seem rather optimistic based on previous experience with Persimmon and so does mean there are doubts as to exactly what improvements we might see delivered.

The result of the changes the County Council is now proposing means the inspector who will decide whether the change to the footpath route can go ahead would need to agree to modify the County Council’s legal orders. Even if the inspector decided the new route was acceptable there would need to be modifications to correct errors the County Council made in drafting the legal orders.

However, with the additional changes to improve the width, this means a more significant change to the legal orders which effectively means they follow the process for new orders and are subject to consultation with various stakeholders.

I have therefore suggested that it would be better for the current legal orders to be abandoned. The County Council should then work to determine exactly what improvements can be made and, crucially, how these will be funded. This would allow it to be clearer exactly what the final outcome of moving the existing route to avoid the houses currently obstructing it would be when we are trying to assess any legal orders to change the footpath.

So overall, there are some positive signs. I think sadly this route may never really meet the standard its importance merits. With potentially over 700 new homes to be built further along its route, it is clear there is a need for a good quality route. I do hope we can see some improvements to the section through the Persimmon housing development to make the route more attractive to use but there are clearly limitations to what can now be changed.

Given its importance, even minor improvements will have been worth the time and effort involved. This case should though also serve as a reminder to many of the parties involved of the importance of getting these things right in the first place. We should never have reached this point and need to work hard to ensure future developments don’t see such a lack of regard for the importance of promoting active travel and preserving rights of way.

Finally, just a big thanks to all those who’ve helped and supported my work here to try to get a better solution for this footpath. Special thanks to Cllr Phil Dilks, Cllr Ashley Baxter, and Gordon Smith, for speaking at the inquiry in support.

It will likely be several weeks before the decision of the inspector is known.