A campaign to improve public access to well-loved woodland is gathering steam after a meeting attended by more than 80 people.
Moresby Rugby Union recently hosted a public meeting for concerned residents of the surrounding area, discussing access to Weddicar Hall Wood.
Residents called for the meeting following the current landowner’s installation of a sign referring to the area as private property and the placing of a boulder which it is claimed was blocking access to the woodland.
The audience agreed to send a series of letters to Copeland MP Trudy Harrison and the local authority, calling for improved public access to the woodland.
De facto campaign leader Rae Tomlinson has pointed to a historic agreement between Cumbria County Council and British Coal in 1996 to improve public access to 600 acres of woodland, footpaths and bridges
Mr Tomlinson said: “That is for all the disruption British Coal caused with opencast in that area.
“Although that land changed hands lots of times, the Section 106 agreement prevails.
“The local community’s been waiting for that to happen. It all came into fruition in 2019/20 when the current landowners (Woodlands) allowed West Cumbria Rivers Trust to enter the property and spend the best part of £3 million (to restore the area).”
But he said that the public are “upset” Section 106 improvements are still yet to be made to improve the footpaths and a sign has appeared stating that there is “no public right of way”.
A boulder which was believed to be blocking the public access to Weddicar Hall Wood has been removed following a visit from Cumbria County Council’s access officer and the community is lobbying for more S106 improvements, making the woodland more accessible.
Cumbria County Council has confirmed to the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the obstruction to the existing public right of way has been removed and talks are underway with a representative of the group to address the community’s additional concerns.
Council officers will also meet with the landowners.
Mr Tomlinson said: “What we don’t have at the minute is a Section 106. People were getting a bit upset to put it mildly. Something needs to be done because this is what was promised to the community.”
David Alty, representing landowner Woodlands said: “There have been three main points raised: Claims that the public footpath along the course of the old railway line has been blocked; complaints regarding the erection of a sign at the start of a recently establish path which is not a public right of way; [and] questions regarding the section 106 agreement.”
Mr Alty said that the response “has been consistent: We do not, and do not intend to, block public rights of way. It is simply not true to say that the path along the old railway was blocked.
“The access to this path has remained the same since it was reinstated following the River Keekle Works completion by Cumbria Rivers Trust about a year ago.”
He said the company has never aimed to keep the public out: “Other boulders which have been placed at other entrance points into the wood are in direct response by us, to a requirement from the local council, to take action to prevent fly-tipping, an activity that we have suffered considerably from over the past few years.
“The sign that was erected does not refer to the Public Right of Way and is some considerable distance from the railway Public Footpath. The Countryside Access Officer did not make any suggestion that it should be removed.”
