Village footpath deemed 'safe' by Shropshire Highways is 'treacherous', say residents
Residents of a Shropshire village have pleaded with authorities to reconsider classifying a 'treacherous' footpath as safe, before someone is injured or killed.
Villagers of Cressage have said they are unhappy that Shropshire Council considers a narrow footpath next to a busy A-road – measuring 600mm in width – as safe to use.
It comes after a planning application was submitted for seven new houses in the village on the location of an old pub – The Eagles – but no public right of way included through the site.
Parish councillor Rob Davies said: "Residents are very enthusiastic to get the houses built and make use of the derelict site but not at the cost of safety.
"Lorries speed through the village so fast and it is terrifying trying to walk along that stretch, so much so that I won’t walk it with my young children. Doing so with a pushchair or wheelchair is impossible."
The planning statement says that the the "footpath adjacent the west elevation of the Eagles Inn has not been determined unsafe by the Council Highways Department and therefore remains usable for safe passage."
Councillor Davies claims: "To make things even more interesting, a local villager officially registered a permissive right of way through the site in 2009 with the authorities because of historic access.
"This doesn’t seem to have been acknowledged yet.
"We have a lot of families with small children in the village and people who use wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The average width of a wheelchair is 650mm which makes safe passage impossible."
The Department for Transport suggests the minimum unobstructed width for pedestrians should generally be 2,000mm.
Inclusive Mobility (2002) advises the width of a footway should be 2,000mm with an absolute clear minimum width of 1,000mm in exceptional cases.
Residents have now asked for an open conversation with the authorities to understand and challenge their decision, Councillor Davies added.
They are also pleading with the developers to reconsider installing a safe public right of way through the planned site for the safety and wellbeing of all.
Shropshire Council's Highways department has been contacted for comment.
To view the planning application search 23/00525/OUT on Shropshire Council's planning portal.
