Row over footpath rumbles on

2:00pm Friday 22nd February 2008

Comments (1)   Have your say »

A BITTER dispute over a footpath has not been resolved after more than two years, as one campaigner continues to insist the county council has not marked the route correctly.

Dr Clive Mowforth, from Dursley, has been campaigning for the footpaths on Stinchcombe Hill to be properly signposted for over two years.

He claims Gloucestershire County Council have still not put all the waymarks - signs for marking rights of way - in the correct place.

A public inquiry into changes to the path network on Stinchcombe Hill in 2006 agreed to create a new path across the centre of the hill.

The inquiry came after an incident involving Dr Mowforth and a golfer from Stinchcombe Hill Golf Club, in August 2006.

Dr Mowforth said: "At the inquiry Gloucestershire County Council promised that all the paths would be properly waymarked which, it was hoped, would end the often bitter disputes with golfers.

"Many of the new and existing paths have been waymarked but problems remain on a significant minority.

"There are a range of problems, from missing waymarks, waymarks put in the wrong place, and incorrect symbols being used."

He continued: "It was hoped that the agreement reached at the public inquiry in 2006 would bring peace to the hill.

"Unless the council fully implements the proposals it looks as though the problems will continue for many years to come."

However John Parsons, principal rights of way officer at Gloucestershire County Council, disputed that the path was incorrectly marked and said that the council had spent a vast amount of money making sure the hill was waymarked properly.

He said: "We have spent a considerable amount of time on this and taken the matter seriously.

"The county council made a commitment to properly sign the hill and that is what we have done."

He added: "We would dispute that a number of signs and waymarks are in the wrong place. We think we have properly signed the hill and we feel we cannot take the matter any further."