Stile 'stops the elderly' (From Witney Gazette)

Stile 'stops the elderly'

2:28pm Friday 17th February 2006 in Witney By Andrew Alexander

ALEC Cantwell may be 85, but he is not a man to take no for an answer.

After being knocked back in a long-running dispute over replacing a stile he says stops the elderly using a village pathway, the redoubtable pensioner went ahead and built his own gate as a compromise.

The path crosses the parish allotments, connecting a Tarmac footpath, called Hornsway, with Chapel Lane, Standlake.

Last year, Mr Cantwell gave a petition of 70 signatures to the allotment association, asking it to replace the stile, to make access easier for the elderly, the disabled, and people with pushchairs.

The allotment holders, who point out the path is not a public right of way, argue a gate risks increasing the damage done by people walking through the allotment, and say there are several other routes.

Mr Cantwell, of The Green, Standlake, said: "My brother is 87, and we have lived in Standlake all our lives. We've known this to be a public right of way since we were children.

"I can bring forward about four people who have fallen from the stile."

Alec Cantwell, 85

"For the sake of the other people like ourselves we would like to replace the stile with a gate.

"I can bring forward about four people who have fallen from the stile. And I know about a dozen people of the same age as we are who have used the right of way through the allotments all their life."

A search of the Land Registry reveals the land is not registered, and is not a public right of way.

Oxfordshire County Council will designate public rights of way if members of the public can prove they have been in common use for a certain period of time, but Mr Cantwell said he believed the process would take too long.

Bob Perry, chairman of the allotment trustees, defended their decision.

He said: "This has been going on for four or five years.

There's a stile at one end of the allotments that was put there for people to get through, but it was never intended that it would be a public footpath. And it's never been registered as one.

"All the allotment holders were worried about more people coming through. One or two have had polytunnels damaged, and a few people are already walking their dogs through without a lead. Several allotments holders said if you make that gate for anybody to come through, then we'll move off.

"There is a public footpath just a short distance away. I know a couple of people who've got electric wheelchairs, and I think they would go round by the church to get to Hornsway. because it's all on Tarmac."

Mr Cantwell said: "The right of way by the school is very uneven. There's roots coming through. If you pushed a pram down there, it would fall over."