Footpaths Update

It’s the 31st October. It will not only be Halloween but also the second anniversary of when Friends of Fox Hill submitted a Public Rights of Way application to Wokingham Borough Council.  The claim is a complex one involving 19 separate path routes when normally a claim is just for one route.  Further complexity has been added by a separate application for 7 bridleways on Fox Hill by another group being made at the same time.  It was mutually agreed by all parties that as they were at the same time for the same area they would be considered as a joint application. 

So where is the application now?  An advance draft report is with the Wokingham Borough Council legal team, and they are considering the analysis, consultants investigation report and the appendices of evidence.  The documentary evidence, user evidence and landowner evidence analysis has now been completed and all that remains to be carried out is a site visit and final conclusions.  Interestingly there is some further investigation required with regard to the legal status of both Limmerhill Road and the Wokingham Borough Council owned section of Fox Hill which may have an impact on the viability on some of the claimed paths.  This is being looked into by the Council’s legal department.  The response from the Council is a lengthy document containing 35 pages, 13,000 words and 16 appendices at present.  Once received we will provide a summary of the contents and make copies available to all those who kindly provided the evidence forms for the application if they so wish.  

Once the report has been published, there will be a period of consultation for the public or interested parties to make comments before any final approval of any new Public Rights of Way can be made.

Tony Delliston