Row over reopened footpath

FIVE householders in Heathfield have claimed that the county council ignored their feelings in ordering a passageway near their homes to be reopened.

East Sussex County Council last month decided that a pathway connecting Alexandra Road and Hailsham Road should be reopened after being closed for six years.

The decision was made after Alexandra Road resident Richard Rumary claimed the path was a public right of way and had been used regularly by locals for 20 years without opposition.

However, others claim that the passage was never a public right of way and was only used by the general public to access a shoe repair workshop. They also claim that reopening the old dirt path, which backs on to a number of gardens, will bring a rise in crime and drug-taking in the area. The residents added that the evidence collated by Mr Rumary was questionable and should not have been accepted by the county council.

The dispute started when the workshop closed in 1996 and the landowner sold the land to Alexandra Road resident Keith Pursglove. He closed the access and used the land to extend his garden.

In 1997, Mr Rumary applied to ESCC under the Wildlife and Countyside Act 1981 to add the path to the county's definitive map and reopen it as a public right of way. In support of his application he provided written evidence to the county from 54 other people who all claimed to have used the path regularly and who filled in standard forms.

Mr Pursglove said: 'The county council say they have consulted with local residents. But all they did was accept en masse 55 evidence forms submitted by the applicant with the application. These are the only evidence forms the council received.'

Mr Pursglove, who is backed in his opposition to the application by at least four other sets of neighbours, added: 'This was never a public right of way. All it ever was was an access route to the workshop and access for myself and my next door neighbour to our back gardens.

'But all the while the workshop was being used, the residents bordering the path were plagued with constant vandalism. Properties were broken into and you couldn't leave anything of any value in your shed for fear of it being stolen. The path was once used as an escape route for burglars when a shop in Hailsham Road was broken into, and we were contantly finding used needles and used condoms down the path.

'When the opportunity arose to buy the workshop I was able to close off this path. Since then there have been no incidents of any kind.'

A spokesman for ESCC said: 'We have answered any questions residents have put to us in correspondence. We haven't got any further comments to make at this time.'

At the time of going to press the Express had been unable to contact Mr Rumary for a comment.