Each Summer Hertfordshire County Council arranges for selected rights of way in our area to be cut back and mown by external contractors. In the past this has been done twice over the season but this year due to further budget cuts at County Hall the programme has been reduced to a single cut. The BSDFA checks the paths post the ‘cut’ to make sure that the work has been done to a satisfactory standard and reports any problems to the local ‘Rights of Way Officer’. We have just completed checking the work in Thorley Parish and to the west of Bishop’s Stortford and in the main it has been done to a good standard.
Invariably, we come across other issues during the check which we report back for further action. A particular problem this year has been overhanging branches and vegetation which has not been attended to by the contractors. This is a particular problem at the crossing points on the Bishop’s Stortford bypass where pedestrians often need to step into the carriageway in order to check if it’s safe to cross. We have also identified a couple of cross-field paths which haven’t been cleared by the landowner and interestingly a footpath that appears to have been ‘diverted’ by the landowner without authority.
On a positive note the flooding problem in the underpass under the bypass at Stortford Park (BS FP078) has now been addressed.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be checking the High Wych paths to the south of Thorley.
