Weldon 'path to nowhere' leaves pedestrians caught up in mud - and red tape

Residents of a Weldon housing development marooned by the lack of surfaced footpaths have urged authorities to get on with finding a solution to their pavement problem.

For the two-and-a-half years since the Harvest Way housing estate was built on the edge of the village, people living there have been waiting for a path to be completed to allow them to safely access pedestrian routes to bus stops and village amenities.

The path that should run alongside Oundle Road has been delayed by a planning wrangle with developers and Northamptonshire County Council's Highways department.

Resident Donna Lewis moved into a new house on the estate in September 2018 and is frustrated by the lack of safe, even, dry pavement - as the path on-site ends abruptly leaving pedestrians no choice but to walk on the muddy verge.

The 46-year-old special needs teacher said: "I feel marooned. I am still unable to leave my home safely due to there being no dedicated footpath off the development.

"The only dry, hard surface to walk on to take you off the development leads you onto the busy A427 Weldon to Oundle road and across a dangerous roundabout.

"At the moment residents have to don wellies and waterproof trousers and ditch their high heels, dresses and smart trousers to walk across muddy, flooded areas of land.

"During the lockdown last year when my dad was ill I was unable to bring him over and walk him into the village as there was no way we could get across the green area and I was not prepared to push him onto the busy main road and go around a major roundabout to get to the safety of a path.

"Sadly dad died and he never got to visit me at home again."

Mulberry Homes had installed a temporary path across part of the grass on the site plastic to lead residents to an access road.

Mrs Lewis said: "It is disgrace that a footpath has not been installed as a matter of urgency, will it have to take a serious incident for them to take note?

"I do drive, but not all the residents have access to a car. They need to catch the X4 bus and to get to the bus stops the path can be very muddy and there's no dropped kerbs for buggies or wheelchairs. It's the path to nowhere"

Corby Council (CBC), as the local planning authority, have been negotiating between developers and Highways.

A spokesman for Corby Council said: "The site at Harvest Close was approved by planning application 16/00376/DPA for the erection of 27 dwellings and associated infrastructure on April 13, 2017.

"Part of the application included the provision of a footpath from the new estate linking it to the established footpath into Weldon village. The proposed footpath was outside of the approved site and located on highway land, as such the local planning authority had no control over its installation. Despite this, Officers from Corby Council have attempted to contact the parties concerned to expedite the installation of the footpath for the health and safety of the residents.

"If a developer wishes to carry out works on highway land then there is a formal process and legal agreements that need to be raised, in this case a Section 278 agreement (S278) which allows for agreed work to be carried out.

"After investigating the matter it was confirmed that Mulberry could not implement the footpath under a S278 as Persimmon already had a S278 in place for the same stretch of highway and you cannot have two S278s relating to the same area of land.

"Officers at CBC are actively progressing the matter and have had several meetings between the relevant developers and the highway authority with a view to signing off the relevant S278 so a deed of variation can be agreed to allow the footpath to be installed. It is envisaged that this will happen as soon as possible."

A spokesman from Persimmon Homes North Midlands, said: “Following a request from the local authority, new designs and plans were submitted causing a delay.

“With new plans now approved, works to Mulberry Homes’ site access and provision of a permanent link path can move forward.”

Steve Mitchell, land and operations director for Mulberry Homes, said: “Currently we’re waiting for Persimmon to complete the roundabout works as agreed with the Northamptonshire County Council highways department. Once that has been finalised, we can proceed to complete the works on the footpath, which is on council-owned land."

Jason Smithers, Cabinet Member for Highways and Place for Northamptonshire County Council said: “We have been working with both Persimmon Homes and Mulberry for some time on legal mechanisms to enable Mulberry to undertake their junction and footway works.

Recent planning determinations by Corby Borough Council have assisted in potentially resolving one of the key outstanding issues. We are looking to move forward shortly with the agreements necessary to get this work done by Mulberry”.