A footpath in the South Wight has been closed by the Isle of Wight Council. The coastal route between Orchard Bay and Woody Bay in St Lawrence has been closed, since at least last Wednesday. It is thought the closure has been enforced due to land movement in the area. With the summer season looming, a date for the path’s reopening has not yet been touted. The steps at Woody Bay were closed back in August 2021 after previous movement.
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Disgusting that all these ‘closed’ footpaths are never re-opened. Thus saving the inept council even more of the huge amount they get from us who DO pay.
And the joke is, all the spongers who DON’T pay, then get given all the money we pay, to fund their feckless and useless lives.
Whilst those who pay the most have the little pleasures left in life like walking taken away from us all.
Cut the to generous payments to the useless, and get a team out to repair, re-site fences and get our beauty spots open for all of us NOW.
Morning! Hope you feel better now!!!
Because it’s right next to the cliff edge which is unstable. because of the Sugarloaf, a geological formation formed from a block of tilted and slipped Upper Greensand Formation. If left open, the potential compensation payment would be far higher and probably bankrupt the council should someone go over the edge.
I think we are all aware of where it is, and most costal footpaths need to skirt the cliff edges at some point as otherwise they would not be costal.
Your irrelevant information boasting however does not detract from the original posters valid complaint of repeatedly seeing footpaths closed, but never a sign of any being reinstated.
We also all understand the weather conditions which caused many to fail have hampered repairs too. But some reassurance of compulsory land purchase and dates from the council would be welcome, should our c.tax ever be spent on useful things for the many to enjoy rather than useless spongers which the state fund as well as us, would, just for once be nice to see.
It’s very relevant (and it’s boasting to know things is it? Better cancel all degrees then eh?) It might have been valid had the post not then swerved sideways into an attack on his idea of ‘spongers’, ignoring the fact that the pot of money for coastal defences comes from our council tax; benefits does not. If it had asked about the possibility of CPO’s I might have told him that given the instability is not right on the edge, the sizes of the tracts of land (given the upper greensand formation) which would be needed to safely instate said footpaths would render the plan extremely costly given that any CPO has to be market value. How much IS an acre of land currently? (only asking as the Bonchurch bit was very significant. Very relevant.)
karen you dolt, the land will NOT be ‘very expensive’ for any thin strip of land along the edge of a crumbling cliff, will, as the current path has, be gone within a few years anyway, so THAT fact will make the value very low.
You never seem to worry about spending money on human dead wood, useless beings or vile criminals supporting even mini terrorists. So don’t now pretend you are penny pinching, when happy to blow millions on taxis for dunces.
Much of the coastal path is ‘right next to the cliff edge’ – that’s one of the things that makes it so interesting. Are you proposing the closure of it completely? People must be able to take decisions for themselves – not nannied by fearful beaurocrats.
Got now’t to do with nannying, everything to do with litigation. You’d soon complain if the council had to pay out massive compensation claims due to dereliction of statutory duty of care..
They are closing these paths because of land movement and it is the councils responsibility to keep people safe, I wonder what people would say if someone was walking one of these paths and the land slipped, you would go with it no time to run if it happened on a large scale like the last one.
It is also the councils responsibility to maintain and repair footpaths and beach access like they used to instead of letting them erode onto the sea. We have already lost access to the beach as Luccombe Chine, Whale Chine, Chilton, Shepherds and various other site across the island because the council “cannot be bothered” to maintain them.
Because the land is unstable and any repairs last less than a year, and safety of all will always trump personal enjoyment of a few. Sorry, but that’s just how it is.