Fear that path is lost forever (From Barry And District News)

Fear that path is lost forever

BARRY Island residents are demanding reassurance the path taken over for building work will be given back.

Homeowners in Redbrink Crescent were concerned when metal posts were driven into the ground next to a path running around Nells Point.

Billy Harris, 66, and his wife Jean, 64, have lived on the Island for the last 27 years.

Jean said: "It was Thursday, October 10, I saw posts had been put into the ground. I told Billy I thought something was going on. By the Friday, there was a fence running the whole length of the path, denying us access to it."

Billy uses the path daily to exercise his dogs. He said: "There was no notification, no-one said this was going to be done. All of a sudden, there was just a fence in the way. I measured how much they had cut off, and it was 18ft from the original path."

According to Billy and Jean, after several of their neighbours had made inquiries over the fencing, a notice was put up stating it was a temporary measure for the purposes of the building work.

Billy, an ex-rigger for BP, added: "It's not that we don't believe the path will be returned to public use. But things normally take so long to complete that people forget. We just want assurance that it will be put back afterwards."

A Vale of Glamorgan Council spokesman said: "In agreement with the council, developers Bovis have fenced off a part of the Nells Point area in order to carry out final grading works on the boundary between the new residential development and public open space.

"Part of this work, which is expected to take a number of weeks, entails the provision of a permanent tarmac footpath for public access to the headland. This follows the same line and is the same length as the previous temporary stone dust path."