The Parish Council has worked very hard to try and find an amicable solution to the closure of the alleyway. The letter we sent to residents, in May outlining everything we have been doing . This is a civil matter and the Parish Council does not have statutory powers to intervene. We can however apply , as can members of the public, to KCC for it to be considered as a Public Right of Way.

Members of the Highways Group and the Planning Committee have been in discussion with KCC Public Rights of Way Team (PROW) since April 2021. We are now ready to follow the required process .

The first step is to obtain evidence from members of the public who can provide written evidence that they have used the footpath for a minimum of 20 years. The forms needed to do this will be available to download from the parish council website from Monday 19th July. The closing date for these to be returned to the Parish Clerk will be Wednesday 8th September . The forms cannot be emailed they must be posted to the Clerk.

These forms are titled Public Right of Way User Evidence Statement. There is a full explanation of the legal requirements and also what may happen if the Landowners object and the application is heard in court.

The Parish Council will then submit these statements with the necessary forms to KCC as soon as possible after the 8th of September.

Please be advised that this is a lengthy process and the PROW team have informed us that applications are dealt with in the order in which they are received and that they have a backlog.

It may take several years for a decision to be reached.