Final plans for Dana footpath in Shrewsbury to get approval
The end of a long-running saga is now in sight as a town council will get to see final detailed plans for a new footpath.
Shropshire Council has drawn up plans for the Dana footpath in Shrewsbury, and Shrewsbury Town Council’s planning committee will receive a presentation of the plans on Tuesday.
The plans for the new footpath outside Shrewsbury Castle, which would bypass Dana Steps, were approved last year and now the town council’s leader Alan Mosley has said he hopes the path will be completed by the summer.
He said: “These are the detailed plans to go out to tender and I’ve asked for them to come back to the planning committee to finally approve the details as we are paying for it.
“It’s a much needed and long awaited scheme. We’re hoping it will be completed by the summer.
“We’ve set aside £50,000 for it.
“It will be an improvement, especially for wheelchair users.
“It will be a really high quality path which will draw people to our town.
“We’re wanting to plant trees along the side too.”
It is hoped the new footpath will solve long-running access issues for the elderly, people with disabilities, and parents with pushchairs, wishing to go from Castle Gates onto the Dana footpath.
Currently the path is only accessible via a steep flight of steps.
The plan includes the formation of a new gated opening in the historic brick wall leading from the Dana footpath to the town centre via the castle gardens in the forecourt to the castle.
Within the forecourt, the new footpath would follow a route on Shropshire Council-owned land adjacent to the castle wall and would return via an existing historic doorway along the Castle Drive.
The plan has been at the centre of a disagreement between the town council and Shropshire Horticultural Society, which withdrew its own proposal for a footpath last year.
The successful designs got the backing of Historic England, as long as high quality materials and appropriate after care and maintenance is carried out to the “sensitive” area.
Shrewsbury Civic Society also gave its support to the plans.
If the committee approves the plans on Tuesday, it will then go out to tender.
