A footpath needs to be diverted around the playground
Patchway Common(Image: Google Earth)
Hopes to expand a play area and create a sports court on a playing field near Bristol have been severely delayed because of four objections to a footpath diversion – all by the same resident.
Stoke Lodge and The Common Parish Council has secured funding to improve community facilities at Patchway Common Recreation Ground, which could include a hardcourt area for basketball and five-a-side football.
But a previous parish council inadvertently built the playground on the route of an official footpath, so no work can take place until the route is moved around it.
South Gloucestershire councillors agreed in December to make an order to divert it, which would have then gone ahead if there were no objections during public consultation.
But a single neighbour is refusing to withdraw their opposition, so the application has to be sent to the Environment Secretary for a decision – and that could take a long time to reach the top of his in-tray and may then result in a public inquiry.
A report to the council’s public rights of way and commons registration sub-committee said: “The Department of the Environment’s circular relating to public rights of way advises that once an order has been advertised, local authorities are expected to make every effort to resolve objections and secure their withdrawal.
“However, in this instance, the objector has clearly stated his intention to object to the order on several occasions and, given the objector’s long history of complaints and extensive email correspondence which has previously covered the points raised but where queries by officers to these points have gone unanswered, officers take the view that further attempts would be unsuccessful and only delay the submission to the Secretary of State.”
The grounds for the resident’s objections include flooding concerns and antisocial behaviour on the proposed new route alongside the pavilion where people ‘wear face masks’.
The report to the committee said council officers had no evidence that the path flooded where the neighbour claimed and that the diverted path would be safer because it removed the need to negotiate the car park.
Parish council chairman Andy Alsop told the meeting that they inherited the public right of way from the previous parish council.
He said: “Unfortunately the play area was built all over it.
“At the time it wasn’t picked up but we now have a problem with a particular resident who wishes to have it reinstated.
Map showing the current and proposed footpaths on Patchway Common. The solid black line A-B is the existing path, the dotted black line C-D-E-B is the proposed route (Image: South Gloucestershire Council)
“This is the only field we have in our parish and also open space in north Bradley Stoke and it is widely used.
“We have youth football, we have Brownies.
“Our plan will be, if we can, to reinstate the play area equipment which has been removed in the last month due to its unsafe nature and we felt it could have been a problem to very young children trapping fingers etc.
“We are getting estimates for replacement kit and ideas for what we would like to do in that area.
“We have quite substantial funding to make this happen, we will be seeking grants as well, but at the moment we are looking for designs and asking people what they would really like.
“We may incorporate a small basketball area which could incorporate some small five-a-side goals and a tarmac area, but nothing can happen until we can get this public right of way moved.
“The new public right of way would run just behind the car park and then along the side of the parish hall which then picks up to roughly where it was originally.
“It’s not moving very far but it has to be moved.”
Cllr Keith Cranney (Conservative, Stoke Gifford) said: “The aspirations of the parish council can only be commended – the amount of kids we now have who are crying out for facilities like basketball in that area.”
Public rights of way officer Lindsay Saunders said: “Once it’s submitted to the Secretary of State, it’s out of our hands and we don’t have any control over the timetable, so you might be waiting quite a long time yet.”
The sub-committee agreed with officer recommendations to refer it to the Environment Secretary asking for the diversion order to be confirmed.
The parish council leases the playing field from owners South Gloucestershire Council.