The Petition of Doug Beard, residents of Shipwrights Drive, Highfield Avenue, Castle Point and others,

Declares that they object to the link footpath between Shipwrights Drive and Highfield Avenue, Hadleigh; that this footpath is a focus for vandalism to adjacent residents’ properties and close residents, resulting in hundreds of pounds of damage to roof tiles, walls, security lights, and regular attendance of police officers; further, that this footpath does not provide sufficiently significant convenient access for local residents to outweigh the considerable loss of quality of life caused 24/7 to residents; that for these and many other valid reasons residents of Shipwrights Drive and Highfield Avenue, Hadleigh call for the complete closure of the link footpath since this is, on balance, in the public interest.

The Petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to press Castle Point Borough Council, the Highways Authority and all Councillors, to ensure the immediate closure of the link footpath between Shipwrights Drive and Highfield Avenue, Hadleigh.

And the Petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Bob Spink, Official Report, 16 March 2010; Vol. 507, c. 847.]

[P000767]

Observations from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

There are two ways in which local residents may seek the closure of a public footpath for reasons of crime prevention.

One is to ask the local authority to make an order under section 118B of the Highways Act 1980. Such an order, if confirmed, would permanently extinguish the public right of way. However, the local authority would first have to apply to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to have the area designated for the purposes of crime prevention. A section 118B order would have to be advertised by the local authority and if there were any objections, the order would have to be submitted to the Secretary of State for confirmation. Further information is available through the following link:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/countryside/prow/extinguish.htm

The other way is to ask the local authority to make a “gating order” under sections 129A to 129G of the Highways Act 1980. A gating order enables a local authority to restrict public access to a footpath and gate it (at certain times of the day if applicable), without removing the underlying highway status. Local authorities are able to make “gating orders” on grounds of antisocial behaviour as well as crime. There is no legal obligation to submit a gating order to the Secretary of State where there are objections. Further information is available through the following link:

http://www.asb.homeoffice.gov.uk/members/article.aspx?id=7924&terms=gating+orders&searchtype= 2&fragment=False