Selby in footpath potholes warning (From York Press)

Selby in footpath potholes warning

2:50pm Thursday 4th December 2008

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POTHOLED footpaths in the Selby district are being neglected by the district council and could cause a serious accident, a leading councillor has warned.

Selby District Council is responsible for a number of footpaths on council housing estates. The county council’s highways department usually maintains roads across North Yorkshire, but several in Selby were never officially taken on by County Hall after they were built.

Coun Steve Shaw-Wright, leader of the opposition Labour group on the district council, said £70,000 of work was now needed on the paths in Abbots Road, Charles Street and Flaxley Road, in Selby; in the Woodlands estate, in Tadcaster; the Eversley estate, at Sherburn-in-Elmet; and Steincroft Road and Westfield Lane, in South Milford. “North Yorkshire County Council said they are quite happy to take over the maintenance of the footpaths – once they are put to an acceptable standard,” he said.

He said the problem had come to light when district councillor Doreen Davies, who represents Selby South, had complained about the state of the footways in Petre Avenue.

“I’ve lived here since 1956 and I don’t think it’s ever been repaired properly before,” she said. “The district council was just putting soft filling in.”

Coun Davies said work had now been completed in her ward, but she did not know what the district council intended doing about the other footpaths across the Selby area.

Coun Shaw-Wright said there was a precedent for the Civic Centre to repair roads so they could be adopted.

“They spent money last year on maintaining a privately-owned road, yet they are shirking responsibility for the ones they actually are accountable for looking after.”

He said thousands of pounds had been spent repairing the private lane in Monk Fryston.

“They are simply not willing to invest their own money into making these footpaths safe, many of which are council estates which elderly residents live on,” he said.

“They receive enough money from taxpayers, yet don’t help them in return.

“The council know these potholes exist. If people trip, then they will be liable to be sued. Surely it would be easier to have the footpaths fixed rather than wait for someone to have a serious accident.”

A district council spokesman said: “The majority of paths are part of the main highway, so responsibility for these falls under the county council.

“In a small number of cases, however, ownership of the paths is not immediately clear and having been alerted to these maintenance issues we’re now working with the county council to find out exactly who needs to carry out the maintenance work.

“Once these details have been worked out, we can put together a long-term maintenance plan for the areas for which we are responsible.

“Having said that, some remedial work has already been carried out where a need has been identified, because we need to make sure the paths are safe.”

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