We weren’t asked about this change to footpath

10:38am Tuesday 20th May 2008

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HOMEOWNERS living near a busy footpath claim they have not been consulted over plans to connect it to a £2 million cycle and pedestrian route.

Nigel Lloyd, Craig Johns and Tony Thomas of Barneshall Avenue, off Bath Road, Worcester, believe Worcestershire County Council and civil engineering charity Sustrans should have discussed changes with them before starting work three weeks ago.

The residents claim a planning application should have been submitted before Sustrans contractors started taking down an existing boundary fence on land it owns bordering the footpath, which runs between the avenue and St Mark's Close.

Nigel Lloyd, aged 49, resident of five years, said: "Work has already started to change it to dual use but we've heard of no planning permission.

"You can't always get what you want and we accept that but people are supposed to ask for your views in a democracy."

However, Ed Dursley, the county council's principal transport engineer, said the current works did not need planning permission because Sustrans owned the land.

He added: "The county council would be responsible for changing the highway and before we did that we would begin a consultation."

Mr Johns, 49, added the matter was further complicated because the avenue was a private road and residents were unsure if they could be held liable by cyclists who had an accident in the road.

Several homeowners are so concerned they have employed a solicitor to put all the issues to the county council.

Tony Thomas, 69, who has lived in the avenue 29 years, added: "We're not anti-cyclist but there are more suitable routes."

The planned changes only came to light when residents found out their neighbours Pauline and David Thorpe had sold a strip of their garden to Sustrans, as part of the £2 million Connect2 project which is being developed with the county council.

The project, including a new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the river Severn at Diglis Lock, is aimed at linking Worcester city centre and Powick. Mrs Thorpe, a keen cyclist, said: "We think encouraging cycling generally is a good thing and I think it will be a pleasant improvement to the path."

Sustrans and the county council want to widen the existing path, where cyclists must currently dismount, so in future both cyclists and pedestrians could use it. Matt Davies, Sustrans' spokesman, said a charity representative had met the three residents to discuss their concerns and had written to homeowners explaining the changes.