Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Greenway Footpath - Good Work But ............
The recent work to extend the hard surface on the Greenway footpath from the A518 road bridge to the west of Haughton to Lowfield Lane on the outskirts of Gnosall will be welcomed by everyone who uses the route. As I live near to this path I know just how popular it is with horse riders, cyclists, joggers and walkers and this new extension will only add to everyone’s enjoyment.
However I was surprised when I stopped on the road bridge on Lowfield Lane and looked down on the end of the new path. Firstly for some reason perhaps only known to a few privileged people the new hard surface finishes a couple of hundred yards short of the bridge itself and secondly the only way to access the path from the lane is down a step set of new steps cuts into the embankment.
This lack of easy access is a real pity as I’m sure walkers from the centre of Gnosall will use Lowfield Lane to form a short circular walk back to the village. The steps however will make access difficult for the disabled, the elderly and mothers with small children in pushchairs. I’m also concerned that as the new hard surface finishes short of the bridge walkers to and from the Haughton direction will be forced to walk on the uneven and muddy old track bed.
Surely with a bit of thought the path could have been completed to the same standard all the way to the bridge and a gentle sloping access path could have been installed to make access at this point easy.
I will be writing to the County Council asking that when the next phase of the footpath upgrade to the centre of Gnosall is carried out that the access be remodelled so no one is prevented from getting to the path from Lowfield Lane
However I was surprised when I stopped on the road bridge on Lowfield Lane and looked down on the end of the new path. Firstly for some reason perhaps only known to a few privileged people the new hard surface finishes a couple of hundred yards short of the bridge itself and secondly the only way to access the path from the lane is down a step set of new steps cuts into the embankment.
This lack of easy access is a real pity as I’m sure walkers from the centre of Gnosall will use Lowfield Lane to form a short circular walk back to the village. The steps however will make access difficult for the disabled, the elderly and mothers with small children in pushchairs. I’m also concerned that as the new hard surface finishes short of the bridge walkers to and from the Haughton direction will be forced to walk on the uneven and muddy old track bed.
Surely with a bit of thought the path could have been completed to the same standard all the way to the bridge and a gentle sloping access path could have been installed to make access at this point easy.
I will be writing to the County Council asking that when the next phase of the footpath upgrade to the centre of Gnosall is carried out that the access be remodelled so no one is prevented from getting to the path from Lowfield Lane
# posted by Barry Stamp @ 3:50 PM 
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
