Ongoing closure of footpath

Parts of Mill Walk, in Warkworth, have been shut off from public access following a historic landslip.

At July’s meeting of Warkworth Parish Council, chairman Coun Sally Black read out a recent email from Northumberland County Council.

It stated that the landowner was applying to the Environment Agency (EA) for consent to carry out their own works to repair the section of eroded river bank and bring the footpath back into use.

Initial discussions with the EA indicated that works may not be permitted until spring 2019 and the path closure order would therefore be extended until the repairs had been carried out.

The county council would liaise with the landowner to ensure that the design to reinstate the path was acceptable and carried out within a reasonable timescale.

The meeting heard that if the Mill Walk support group had raised funds towards the project and still wished to contribute to the repairs this could be arranged, but their assistance with the design and obtaining consents was not currently required.

Any unofficial signage on the path will be removed and all parties are asked not to erect any further signs.

The parish council noted the precedent being set by the landowner in taking responsibility for the riverbank which they owned and felt this should be applied in other situations.

The landslip happened in 2008, but no public right of way was recorded at the time. But now that it is, the county council made a temporary closure notice​ for public safety​.