Out-of-repair footbridge on public footpath FWC2C
Case reference FOI2024/01722
Received 4 October 2024
Published 17 October 2024
Request
As highway authority, Herefordshire Council has certain important duties in this regard, including, under section 130 of the Highways Act 1980, the duty to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of all highways, including public rights of way. Moreover, section 41(1) of the Act provides that “… the highway authority for a highway maintainable at the public expense are under a duty … to maintain the highway.” (Just about all public rights of way are highways maintainable at the public expense.)
The Act does not specify any particular standard of maintenance, though case-law shows that it must be such as to enable the passage of users at all times of the year. For most of the public footpath network, where people expect to find mud and varied terrain, the standard may not be very great. But it would be idle to argue that a footbridge so badly collapsed as to have required the prohibition of its use on safety grounds somehow measured up to an appropriate standard. This, however, has been the position for some time (along with many other similar footbridges in Herefordshire) with public footpath FWC2C at Fownhope, where the footbridge at grid reference SO 60163741 has fallen into such a state as to be dangerous to use.
Instead of repairing the path pursuant to its duties under section 41, your Council closed the bridge by an order under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Such orders are described by the statute as
“temporary”, so are clearly not meant as a means of avoiding the duty to maintain. (It is not clear if this order remains in force, since such orders expire after 6 months unless renewed by the Secretary of State. If it is in force, there is no notice to advise the public that they commit a punishable offence by trying to use what is left of the bridge.)
Response
As highway authority, Herefordshire Council has certain important duties in this regard, including, under section 130 of the Highways Act 1980, the duty to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of all highways, including public rights of way. Moreover, section 41(1) of the Act provides that “… the highway authority for a highway maintainable at the public expense are under a duty … to maintain the highway.” (Just about all public rights of way are highways maintainable at the public expense.)
The Act does not specify any particular standard of maintenance, though case-law shows that it must be such as to enable the passage of users at all times of the year. For most of the public footpath network, where people expect to find mud and varied terrain, the standard may not be very great. But it would be idle to argue that a footbridge so badly collapsed as to have required the prohibition of its use on safety grounds somehow measured up to an appropriate standard. This, however, has been the position for some time (along with many other similar footbridges in Herefordshire) with public footpath FWC2C at Fownhope, where the footbridge at grid reference SO 60163741 has fallen into such a state as to be dangerous to use.
Instead of repairing the path pursuant to its duties under section 41, your Council closed the bridge by an order under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. Such orders are described by the statute as
“temporary”, so are clearly not meant as a means of avoiding the duty to maintain. (It is not clear if this order remains in force, since such orders expire after 6 months unless renewed by the Secretary of State. If it is in force, there is no notice to advise the public that they commit a punishable offence by trying to use what is left of the bridge.)
Answer: I can confirm that your original letter was received on 9th August via email to the Chief Executive and was passed on to be dealt with. Unfortunately this was missed internally, and I do apologies that this has caused a delay in our response. I have made enquiries with the relevant service area who have responded as follows.
There was a six month closure of FWC2C due to the damaged footbridge commencing 2nd December, 2022. The bridge was put on the capital programme for replacement at it is 10 metres long so needs to be scoped and designed by Balour Beatty before being replaced. For some reason the closure wasn’t extended, so Herefordshire Council are in the process of putting a new closure in place now to ensure the safety of the public. However, the bridge replacement will remain on the capital programme to be actioned in line with other priorities on the list. I apologize again for the delay in the response to your request for information.
Documents
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