Agenda item

RESOLVED that the report notifying the receipt of the following petitions be noted and the recommended actions for responding to them be endorsed:-

(a)       Containing the signatures of 79 signatories, in respect of a request to reinstate access to the Swaithe playing fields across the site of the former Worsbrough High School.

Since the closure of Worsbrough High School in 2005, residents in the surrounding area have created an informal route across the site as a short cut to access the sports fields to walk dogs etc.  However, the access has been closed off so that the land can be let on a grazing tenancy.  The informal route is not included on the Definitive Map, and a claim for its inclusion is unlikely to be successful given that it has been in regular use for less than 20 years.  Formalising the route would bring with it a maintenance liability on the Council and affect the letting of the site or any future proposals the Council may have for the site.  As there is an alternative, albeit longer, definitive footpath available to the public to access the Trans Pennine Trail and other recognised public accessible routes, it is not recommended that this access be re-opened to the general public.