Ramblers Welcome Action Against Cereal Offenders
4th August, 2009
The Ramblers have welcomed tough action by East Sussex County Council against some landowners who obstruct paths and bridleways with crops.
The council has cleared a number of routes and will charge the landowners for the cost of this. This follows the ignoring of earlier requests by the council to keep the paths clear.
The photographs show before and after pictures of Arlington Bridleway 24, which is just north of Arlington Reservoir near Hailsham and is in a popular walking and riding area. For at least the last five years the landowner has obstructed the bridleway with crops (sometimes two crops a year) and for many years ignored requests to remove fences and hedges that obstructed the route. However the route is now clear.
Ramblers spokesman Chris Smith says:
We welcome this action against this antisocial behaviour. In a survey done by the council this winter roughly 200 paths were found to be ploughed up or obstructed with crops- and this was in the winter! Plainly there is further work to be done. It is not fair to walkers and riders to go out on a walk and be faced with the sort of problem in the before picture. It is also not fair to the vast majority of landowners who do keep their paths and bridleways open.
Walkers who find paths ploughed up or obstructed by crops should report this to the county council covering the area.
For more information contact Ramblers Sussex area press officer Chris Smith by phone on 01273 474070 (office hours) or email chris.smith@hbhelp.co.uk.
