This is the email I got from BCC last year:
"Subject: Forty Foot Lane byway
Dear Sirs
We have received many complaints and enquiries about the continued closure of part of the Forty Foot Lane byway in Suoldrop and Wymington.
Over recent years Bedfordshire County Council (and since April 2009 Bedford Borough Councl) has spent many thousands of pounds on remedial and improvement works to the surface of the 50 or so kilometres of green lanes in the Bedford Borough area. This has been compeimented by a seasonal closure regime to protect the lanes throughout the autumn and winter months.
This year we have opened all of our green lanes on time with the exception of Sandy Lane (Swineshead and Dean), Donkey Lane (Keysoe) and part of Forty Foot Lane. Extensive works have been carried out on Donkey Lane and Sandye Lane and these will be re-opening in a few weeks when those works have been allowed to settle down.
Forty Foot Lane poses different problems. It is c.4km long, and can only be closed off in controllable sections. The lane is divided into three sections which may be closed to certain classes of traffic if the conditions warrant it. The first section runs from the A6 at the lane's eastern end to Blackmere Farm. The second runs from Blackmere Farm past Gt Hayes Wood to Santa Pod raceway; the last section is between Santa Pod and Dungee Corner.
Last year the section by the A6 was closed because widening work was being carried out on the A6 for access to the bio-mass plant. This year, although parts of the second section are in very good condition following works last year and the winter closure, the section beyond the railway up to Santa Pod is in a bad state.. The emergency closure was an administrative error and should have been a straight forward closure.
As I am sure you are all aware, public sector finances are being squeezed across the board. This department's capital budget has been cut from £355,000 last year to £120,000 this year with no allocation at all planned for subsequent years. As things stand, we do not have the funds necessary for the level of remedial works necessary to open this section. If, through underspends elsewhere in the budget during the financial year, funds were to become available then we would look to carry out the work needed and open this section of the lane.
I have engaged the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charities (BRCC) to produce a comprehensive management plan for all our green lanes covering vehicular and non-vehicular usage, conservation, bio-diversity and landscape heritage issues. I am hoping for these plans to be delivered in July 2010. It will be these plans, once adpoted by the Council, which will form the basis of the Council's policy towards these byways going forward. Until that work is complete, we won't be looking to any medium or long term arrangements or changes to the management regime.
I would say by way of summary that over the years this department, when it was part of Bedfordshire County Council and since it has become part of the Bedford Borough Council unitary authority, has consistently championed the rights of all legitimate users ot the area's byways, often against concerted political and local pressure to close them to vehicles altogether. We remain committed to managing the lanes in a balanced way having regard to all legitimate interests and to the cost-effective use of scarce public funds."
Regards
Martyn Brawn
Outdoor Access & Rights of Way Manager
Bedford Borough Council
Borough Hall
Cauldwell Street
Bedford
MK42 9AP
Tel: 01234 228983
fax: 01234 228315
[email protected]
