driffield navigation guide

Article printed in the Driffield Times 25/09/2003
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Canal side rights-of-way a 'priority issue'  A LONG-RUNNING dispute over rights of way at a Driffield beauty spot has come a step closer to being resolved after the council made the definition of canal footpaths a matter a priority.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council put footpaths along the canal, including a controversial route passing Lock View, Riverhead, to be legally recognised as a public right of way, at the top of its list of priorities.

Campaigners have fought hard to get the Riverhead footpath recognised on a 'definitive map', after the owner of the Lock View property barred people from walking across what he believes to be private property.

Mrs Christine Clubley, who died in February, spearheaded the campaign insisting that Registry of Deeds proved there was a cart track which the public would had every right to use.

She also argued that the public had been using the cart track for more than 60 years.

Following the latest decision, ERYC Coun Jonathan Owen said: "It is a fitting tribute to the late Christine Clubley, who fought so hard to ensure the council made a priority."

He added that recognising the Lock View footpaths and others bordering the canal would add to securing the future of the canal as an attraction, generating income for the town.

"The Driffield Navigation could not have made progress until these matters are sorted out," he said.

Trevor Stone, spokesman for the Driffield Navigation Trust, which is responsible for the upkeep of the canal, said: "We had some good news when we heard that the ERYC have decided to give priority to the examination of rights-of-way, with particular reference to Driffield.

"We were rather afraid we could finish up being able to go down the canal but couldn't get off the boat. But it will now all be sorted out. We are very pleased."

Councillors may also make the current definitive map available to the public by keeping an updated copy at the ERYC offices at County Hall, Beverley, and posting a version on the internet.  25 September 2003