Villagers secure access to rural path after five-year dispute

Residents have been granted permission to utilize a rural pathway, which connects a village to a lake and a wildlife sanctuary, following a five-year contention. The Planning Inspectorate officially approved public access to the 600m (0.4-mile) route, extending from Neatishead village, situated within the Norfolk Broads, to Alderfen Broad, recognized as a site of scientific interest. The Neatishead Poor’s and Fuel Allotment Charity, proprietors of the land, had previously obstructed the route, asserting that no public right of access was established. Conversely, local inhabitants stated they had traversed the path for approximately two decades. The inspectorate determined that usage was permissible under the common law principle, “once a highway, always a highway”. The property had originally been bequeathed to the parishioners of Neatishead and is currently held by the charity. Portions of the land traversed by the footpath were converted into allotments in 1905, subsequently becoming farmland managed by a tenant farmer by the 1980s. In 2019, villagers reported discovering “no entry” signs positioned at both extremities of the path, along with 19 substantial logs, a fallen tree, and agricultural equipment obstructing the way, which they subsequently cleared. This situation escalated into disagreeable encounters between the tenant farmer and the villagers, encompassing allegations of offensive language and intimidation directed by both parties, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. Gill Young, a local pedestrian, initiated efforts to have the path officially registered as a public right of way through Norfolk County Council, a request that the council approved. The Neatishead Poor’s and Fuel Allotment Charity contested this action, reiterating that no public access right was in place and arguing that establishing one would negatively affect its capacity to lease the land. Planning inspector Nigel Farthing commented that insufficient measures had been taken to inform villagers of the situation, noting that signs were only put up in 2019. He determined that ample evidence demonstrated continuous use of the route by walkers without interruption for a two-decade span, specifically from 1999 to 2019.