To determine an application to reduce the width of Arlesey Footpath No. 5.

The Committee considered a report of the Assistant Director Highways which advised of an application to reduce the width of Arlesey Footpath No. 5 at its eastern end where it passed within the curtilage of Arlesey Garage and the rear garden of No. 72 Stotfold Road.  If the application was approved the retained width of the footpath would be that of the current narrow alleyway which had been formed as a result of the extension of the above properties over and into the estimated historical width of the footpath.

The Committee noted that the County Council of Bedfordshire (Arlesey: Part of Footpath No 5) Public Path Diversion Order 2001 was not directly related to the application before Members but it did require to be formally abandoned as it was considered erroneous and redundant.

Points and comments included:

·         Based on the 1937 Ordnance Survey map the estimated width of the route of the original track was 4.0-4.5 metres wide.

·         Approval of the application would leave only a footpath of between 0.82 and 1.22 meters in width (i.e. the width of the current alleyway).

·         Whilst there was no statutory minimum width for a footpath, the Council’s own guidelines for new footpaths was two metres and the  Highways Agency D[isability]D[iscrimination]A[ct] Compliance Programme (Design Compliance Assessment Guide, DDA Training Spring 2010) stated that the absolute minimum, where there was an obstacle, should be 1000mm clear space. The maximum length of restricted width should be 6 metres. The alleyway between points A and B, as shown on the map at Appendix A to the report of the Assistant Director – Highways, was approximately 45 metres in length.

·         Concern was expressed by Members that the existing alleyway was too narrow to permit unrestricted access by wheelchair users, especially those using electric wheelchairs, and by those persons pushing a double buggy.

·         Arlesey Town Council had objected to the proposed width reduction and required the retention of a greater width.

·         Members expressed the view that the application for the Committee to formally reduce the width of the footpath to that of the existing alleyway should be refused and an unobstructed width of 2.0 metres should be retained.

RESOLVED

1          that the submitted application to make a public path extinguishment order under Section 118 of the Highways Act 1980 to extinguish that part of the historically obstructed width of Arlesey Footpath No. 5 between points A and B, as shown on the map at Appendix A to the report of the Assistant Director - Highways,  whilst retaining the unobstructed portion of the footpath that runs along the alleyway between House Lane and Chase Close with a variable width of between 0.82 and 1.22 metres, be refused on the grounds that such a reduced width is incompatible with the duty of the Highway Authority to consider and provide disabled access along the footpath;

2          that the making of a public path extinguishment order under Section 118 of the Highways Act 1980 to extinguish part of the obstructed width of Arlesey Footpath No. 5 between points A and B, as shown on the map at Appendix A to the report of the Assistant Director - Highways, whilst retaining a width of 2.0 metres - which includes the unobstructed portion of the footpath running along the alleyway between House Lane and Chase Close - be approved;

3          that the County Council of Bedfordshire (Arlesey: Part of Footpath No 5) Public Path Diversion Order 2001, which was objected to and never forwarded to the Secretary of State and is considered erroneous and redundant at this time, be formally abandoned.