This photo was taken in 2002, before the fence was erected. To our certain knowledge the footpath has been in regular use by the public since 1970, well over 30 years.
Philip Morant School have again closed the footpath between the schools which provides access from Norman Way to The Girls’ High School and St Benedicts School, as well as providing a through route to Park Road and Lexden Road for other pedestrians and cyclists.
The school has taken to doing this in recent years to remind the public that they own the strip of land between the main school grounds and their playing field. It is also an attempt to camouflage the fact that the footpath has been used by local residents for well over 30 years and should have been made a public right of way long before now.
The footpath is in fact an essential part of the cycle route from Shrub End and Prettygate into town, as well being vital to all local school children going to and from the three schools in both directions, from Lexden Road or Norman Way.
Several attempts have been made in the past to ‘encourage’ local children and residents to use Shady Lane (which goes behind the Irvine Road Orchard and between the Grammar School playing fields and the Girls’ High School playing fields), but being less than 2 metres wide along much of its length it isn’t wide enough for large numbers of pedestrians and will never qualify as a cycle path for the same reasons.
If Colchester Borough Council and Essex County Council are at all serious about improving and increasing cycle routes and access in and around the town, they need to accept that the footpath between the schools should be compulsorily purchased and dedicated as a permanent public footpath and cycle path, as this is the only cycle access through the area from Shrub End Road to Lexden Road and into the town centre.
It is now common knowledge that Philip Morant School’s long term ambition is to grab the Irvine Road Field for development and that in order to achieve this they will always frustrate any attempts to formalise the footpath. This is an important issue for everyone, because if they ever were allowed to start building on the field, the very first thing to go would be the footpath– forever!
Update: October 27th 2015
It was agreed at the AGM that the footpath issue will soon become crucial to the preservation of the Irvine Road Field and the Green at Painters’ Corner, as the school are trying to find ways to close it so they can develop their playing field and join it onto the main campus.
IRARA would be very interested to hear from anyone (you don’t have to be a member, or even a local resident) who has been using the footpath on a regular basis for over 20 years as we want to show just how important it is to the community.