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The former Cumbria County Council made an
Order under Section 119 of the Highways Act 1980 on 24 September
1999 to divert a section of public footpath no 114026 at Flat Bank
in the parish of Dalston (copy attached as Appendix 1).
 
The Assistant Director authorise the decision
to abandon the Order made under Section 119 of the Highways Act
1980 to divert public footpath no 114026 in the parish of Dalston,
as copy attached at Appendix 1 and all those who made
representations or objections to the Order be informed.
 

Reasons for the decision

Since the Order was made the landowner’s
agents have failed to organise and complete the works necessary to
bring the proposed diversionary route into a fit condition for use
by the public.
 
The Council made the Diversion Order subject
to the applicants carrying out works to bring the new route of the
footpath into an acceptable condition for use by the public. This
has not been carried out in the 25 years since the making of the
Order and therefore, the recommendation is to abandon the
Order.
 
The British Standard for accessibility on
public rights of way (specifically BS 5709) has been revised three
times since the diversion order was made, in 2001, 2006 and
2018.  Whilst we have to acknowledge
that the works were agreed in light of the standards at the time
the order was made, the effect of the revisions in British
Standards means that those works would not be acceptable today.
 
The Council has the discretion not to proceed
with an Order to which there are representations or objections or
may withdraw an Order for other reasons, such as external factors
making a scheme no longer appropriate. 
In order to bring the procedure to an end the Council must make a
formal resolution not to proceed and should notify the applicant
and those who have made representations or objections to the
passing of the resolution to make the Order.
 

Alternative options considered

The decision maker may accept or reject the
recommendation.  If the recommendation
is rejected, Officers will continue to work with the applicant to
get the new path into a fit condition for use by the public.
 
If the recommendation is accepted then the
section of footpath shown A-B-C on the Order Map at Appendix 1 will
remain on the Definitive Map.