Steps to address Prudhoe footpath closure

A petition against the closure of a footpath through the old Prudhoe hospital site, from Park Lane to Stanley Burn, was discussed at a meeting of the Tynedale Local Area Council earlier this month.

The petition was started by Prudhoe resident Philip Hindmarsh after the footpath closure, which was initially enforced in February 2017 and runs until April 2019.

The footpath was closed by developer Gentoo to allow it to complete work on its 404-home Cottier Grange development.

Addressing councillors at the meeting, Mr Hindmarsh said: “That’s over two years for a temporary closure and I would question, is that a temporary closure?”

But Gentoo has said that the closure, which was granted by the Secretary of State, will not affect the footpath for the whole of the period until April 2019.

The developer said that the footpath would remain open for periods of time and then closed when construction work was taking place alongside or underneath the path.

But councillors at the meeting noted it was an extremely popular route.

Coun. John Riddle said: “I understand that they have got to be allowed to get on with their work, but it’s a very well-used path.

“Can there not be some sort of negotiation with the next closure so that it’s only closed for some hours of the day, say from 7am to 5pm?”

Coun. Gordon Stewart, county councillor for Prudhoe South, said he had met with a senior representative from Gentoo who indicated that there could be the possibility of having an employee on site to open the footpath to pedestrians when it was safe to do so, before closing it again.

A Northumberland County Council officer said that following the meeting, he would get in touch with Gentoo and report back on what had been said, with the hope of taking something forward.

Coun. Stewart added: “The consensus from this meeting is that we know about the health and safety concerns, but in reality we would like Gentoo to move it forward very quickly indeed.”