Residents from the new Pasture Lane estates, and those who enjoy walking to Rushcliffe Country Park, are celebrating the completion of a long awaited all-weather surface on a key pedestrian access route.
After much campaigning by villagers, and lobbying by Ruddington Parish Council (RPC), Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) has now completed its promised work on “Footpath Number 5”. In recent years there have been many complaints of it becoming unusable during periods of wet weather, usually over the winter, due to puddles and mud. This has meant a long detour for some residents to walk to our village centre or Country Park – or them opting to use the car instead.
Following last week’s work, the stretch of footway which links 50 Steps Bridge from over the railway line to Vicarage Park now has a brand new tarmac surface – meaning the months of wading through a quagmire should, hopefully, be a thing of the past!
However, some pedestrians have remarked they’re unhappy about the path finishing short at the western end of the park – meaning that a walk along a sometimes soggy field is still necessary to get onto the existing footway to Vicarage Lane or the Musters Road estate. A letter to residents from Via East Midlands stated: “It is hoped that the tarmac resurfacing can be continued along the line of the footpath in Vicarage Park towards the village centre next year should funding permit.”
Meantime, there is also concern about the state of the public access over the railway line. Sue Zawodniak commented: “Does anyone know if the bridge will receive any maintenance work? Some of the steps look quite rotten at the fixings!”
GCRN has told us this pedestrian bridge is not its responsibility – therefore most likely also Nottinghamshire County Council’s – whilst the still gravelled path at the far side, leading to the new homes, runs across land which belongs to Artex.
RUDDINGTON.info will be sure to keep you posted on further developments!
