Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) has announced that Saffron Walden Town Council has taken it upon itself to provide a proper temporary footpath on the town’s Common while Essex County Council’s works are blocking the paths.
Arthur Coote (R4U)Cllr Coote added “The works being undertaken to replace the culvert which runs below Hill St and George St by ECC and the Environment Agency are an important part of the town’s flood defences. The town has been waiting for it for a number of years, and so it has been welcomed by all relevant local authorities. However the compound erected to service the works runs across the two paths running along the bottom and diagonally across the Common. ECC decided that any alternative footpath provision was unnecessary, and have said that residents should rely on the path across the top of the Common, which in my view is clearly inadequate.”
Cllr Coote concluded “Despite frequent requests from SWTC, ECC have refused to provide a solution, so last week the Town Council decided that it would have to swallow the cost and invest in a temporary path itself. The temporary path arrived at the start of this week, and I’m delighted at how quickly SWTC staff have been laying it. My thanks to them.”
SWTC restore access to town centre across common after ECC refuse.