Today’s Green Tips Advent Calendar window opens to clear a footpath; and that was what had planned to do today on Park Farm for our Nature Rangers FREE RANGE session, but this has been postponed to the New Year due to heavy winds and the forecast of rain.
Well-maintained footpaths encourage walking, jogging, and other forms of physical activity, thereby promoting public health and well-being. A clear footpath allows people to be physically active as part of their daily lives, and as well as bringing a range of health and wellbeing, other benefits include reducing traffic congestion, air pollution and outputs of climate change gases.
But walkers wanting to enjoy footpaths across the British countryside are being blocked or obstructed in nearly 32,000 places across England and Wales.
People wanting to use footpaths are fighting back, with one rambler even training as a lawyer to force councils to keep the way clear. A BBC investigation found councils which have responsibility for footpaths had 4,000 more access issues on public rights of way in 2023 than in 2022. Campaigners said this showed a “growing abuse and neglect” of the path network whilst local authorities said “funding constraints” limited what they can do.
If you come across a blocked footpath, you can:
Report it
You can report the problem to your local highway authority, which is usually the county council or unitary authority. You can report to North Northamptonshire Council using the FixMyStreet website.
Move obstructions
If you can, you can move any obstructions out of the way, such as a fallen branch.
Cut back vegetation
You can use scissors or pocket secateurs to cut back enough vegetation to get through. However, you shouldn’t go out with the intention of clearing vegetation without the landowner’s permission.
Deviate around obstructions
You can deviate around obstructions, as long as you don’t leave the landowner’s land.
Clearing a path on Park Farm
The footpath we are intending to clear is on Park Farm, we going to reinstate the path runs from Sinclair Drive towards Sywell Road and it has almost grassed over. It simply needs edging and scraping off to reveal the hard surface. Our Nature Rangers will now clear this path on Monday 20th January from 10am to 2pm, do join us!
Join our Nature Rangers on Monday 20th January for a FREE RANGE, tools are provided but you can bring a shovel, come to ECO HUB, Glamis Hall at 10am and we’ll be out 10:30 till 1:30, let’s see what we can do!