A NATIONAL conservation body has accused the council of botching efforts to make a popular footpath a public right of way.

Residents in Upper Walthamstow have used the popular cut-through between Woodstock Road and Hale End without being challenged for more than 20 years, despite its official legal status as private land.

The council recently asked the government for permission to designate it a public right of way, several years after residents submitted evidence to the authority in 2007.

But the Open Spaces Society says the application has failed to include the entire width of the footpath, leaving a chunk of the land vulnerable to future development.

Campaigner Dennis Tilley said: "We are dismayed that the council has continually got this wrong.

"Local people want to be able to use the path to its full width for ever."

Open Spaces Society general secretary Kate Ashbrook added: "This is a missed opportunity to get the full path shown on the map.

"The land which is not shown could lose its highway status.

"We have asked Waltham Forest Council to withdraw this order and to remake it showing the full width, so that the path as a whole is safe from encroachment and can be enjoyed by all."

A council spokesman said the authority was confident that it had followed due process in line with an instruction from the government's Planning Inspectorate.

He added: "While the council appreciates the difference in opinion with regard to the width of the path, we are satisfied that it meets the relevant legislative requirements and have no plans to make any changes.

"The Open Spaces Society have objected to the order as made and their objection will be forwarded for consideration by Secretary of State before the order is confirmed."


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