Pippa Middleton and her husband are on the centre of a planning row after closing a road throughout their estate, which locals believed made up a part of a public footpath.
The entrance to Mill Lane on their Barton Court estate in Berkshire was closed with a gate and railings after James Matthews, Ms Middleton’s husband since 2017, purchased the house in 2022, in response to planning paperwork.
After Mr Matthews and Ms Middleton moved in, an electrical gate with new indicators saying “no access” and “no entrance” was reported to have been put in in October 2022, which might cease walkers from reaching a longtime footpath.
However, West Berkshire Council designated the lane to be a part of a public proper of method after an software by West Berkshire Ramblers for a definitive map modification order.
This choice is being challenged by the estate – and that problem will likely be heard throughout a public enquiry to be held by the Planning Inspectorate subsequent month.
According to native residents, offering proof to the general public enquiry on behalf of the Ramblers’ Association, the lane is a crucial hyperlink to the general public footpath, which has lengthy been used to get across the village of Kintbury, and they’d in any other case have to make use of a “dangerous road”.
Neil G Lawrence mentioned: “I was always of the belief that this route off of Station Road to the Kintbury footpath was public.
“When planning a walk, and executing a walk, the route looks logical, both on any available map and in reality on the ground.”
Mr Lawrence mentioned that closure of the route could be a “loss of a key local amenity.”
He added: “The alternative route is to walk along a dangerous road where very few refuges for pedestrians are present.”
Another particular person mentioned: “Until the point in time when a gate was installed across the metalled section of the walk, there were no signs, no gates or stiles of any kind that would impede progress with a pedestrian or dog along any part of this route.
“Over the years, I have seen and spoken with many villagers walking this path and I have always believed the metalled roadway from the entrance to Barton Court to the gate lodge on Station Road was part of the public footpath.”
However, in 2024, Barton Court estate supervisor Patrick Newnham objected to the designation of the lane as public on the idea that it “has been, and remains, marked as private”.
Mr Matthews’ assertion of case to the definitive map modification order acknowledged: “The claimed route does not meet the legal requirements to be a footpath.”
It says that it getting used as such would trigger “practical/privacy difficulties and security issues for the Objector (Mr Matthews) and his family.”
The case additionally mentioned signage to manage entry has been in place “since at least the 1980s”.
Additionally, it acknowledged that different routes can be found for walkers in Kintbury, which it claims are extra enticing.
“The claimed route is, in contrast, a surfaced drive with unremarkable views on either side that would not lead would-be footpath users anywhere other than Station Road, which has been, at all material times, a busy and unattractive road for the recreational walker or otherwise out to open country (on the other side of Station Road) where there are no convenient routes”, Mr Matthews’ case provides.
The inquiry will start on 14 May.
The Independent has contacted Barton Court for remark.
