Villagers win five-year battle to use footpath

The footpath runs from the end of Sow’s Lake, at Threehammer Common, through woodland before turning south towards Alderfen Broad

Villagers have been allowed to use a rural path, that links a village to a lake and wildlife haven, following a five-year dispute.

The Planning Inspectorate granted access to the public to use the 600m (0.4mile) stretch of path which links Neatishead village, in the Norfolk Broads, to Alderfen Broad, a site of scientific interest.

The owners of the land, the Neatishead Poor’s and Fuel Allotment Charity, had previously blocked the land as it said no public access right existed.

Local people said they had walked it for about 20 years and the inspectorate said they could use it under the common law legal maxim, "once a highway, always a highway".

A sign was placed on the footpath informing people of a planning inquiry

The land had been willed to the parishioners of Neatishead and is now under the ownership of the charity.

Land that crossed the footpath was turned into allotments in 1905 and by the 1980s it had become farmland managed by a tenant farmer.

In 2019, villagers said they found no entry signs placed at either end, said 19 large logs, a fallen tree and farm machinery had blocked the route, which they later removed.

This led to unpleasant incidents between both the tenant farmer and villagers, including complaints of abusive language and intimidation levelled at both sides, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Gill Young, a local walker, attempted to get the path registered as a public right of way, via Norfolk County Council, which it accepted.

Neatishead Poor’s and Fuel Allotment Charity opposed the move and said no public access right existed and that if one was created it would have an impact on its ability to rent out the land.

Planning inspector Nigel Farthing said not enough had been done to communicate this to villagers, with signs only being erected in 2019.

He concluded there was enough evidence to show that walkers had travelled on the route without interruption for a 20-year period between 1999 to 2019.