A Footpath to the Forest

One morning I was listening to an interview with a government minister about how we are all getting more obese and how we use our cars too much, when really we should be walking.

My family and I love visiting Salcey Forest but we usually drive there, because we feel it is too dangerous to walk on the roads with two young children. So I sent an email to Northamptonshire County Council to find out why we did not have a footpath from the village to the forest. The response that I got was somewhat surprising.

The Council sent me an application form to apply for funding to have a footpath built. Slightly taken aback, I read through all the enclosed paperwork. One of the first questions on the application form was whether the Parish Council had been consulted, so off I went to find Judy Webster. She was very supportive, and took the paperwork to the Parish Council and used some of her sources to investigate whether this funding is genuinely available, which appears to be the case.

We are now ready to make our application, and this is the proposal:

A footpath/cycle way is constructed from the village down to the main entrance of Salcey Forest, i.e. to the main car park and café.

BUT…..we need your help. If our application is to succeed we need as much support from the village as possible. We have / are in the process of asking all the organisations and groups in the village for their views and support, and encouraging them to write in support of the application. But we would also like as many individuals in the village to write as well. We can only get this pathway if we can convince the Council that there is a real need, in particular that it would genuinely reduce car usage as a way reaching the forest and therefore help local sustainability.

Salcey Forest is a valuable recreational, educational and environmental resource to us all, and getting to it can be hazardous to both young and old alike. It is a shame that when we have something as invaluable as the forest so close to us, that we either end up using our cars, risk walking along the roads or avoid using the forest altogether. If you can see the value and benefit to you and the village, of constructing a footpath/cycle way,
Please send your letters either to the Parish Council via Judy Webster or Julie Bruley, or to myself, at Canterbury House, School Lane. We will then send them to the council in support of our application

If this is to happen we need your support. It is likely that the Council will only be convinced of the need, if enough people write in with their support for the proposal. Please don’t leave it, in the hope someone else will do it or that your contribution will make little difference. All support is invaluable and will be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your support,

Nicola Farrier