From the Open Spaces Society
Local residents, backed by the Open Spaces Society,the
Ramblers and the Harrow Hill Trust, have defeated plans by élite Harrow School
to move two public footpaths across its sports pitches and tennis courts.
The objectors fought the plans at a six-day public inquiry earlier this
year. The government inspector, Ms Alison Lea, has now rejected the
proposals.
Harrow School which spreads over 300 acres, is one of
Britain’s most élite institutions. The annual fees are £37,350 (the
average UK annual wage is £26,500). The school wanted to move two public
footpaths, officially known as numbers 57 and 58 in the London Borough of
Harrow, which have for centuries run in direct lines across the land now
forming part of its grounds.
Footpath 57 follows a north-south route between Football
Lane and Pebworth Road. The school obstructed the footpath with tennis
courts surrounded by fencing in 2003. For nine years, the school even
padlocked the gates across another section of the path but reopened them
following pressure from the objectors.
The objectors had argued that Harrow Council should make
the school reopen the path, as required by law,but instead the council agreed
with the school to move the path around the obstructions.
Footpath 58 runs in a direct line between the bottom of
Football Lane and Watford Road, and the school applied to move it to a zigzag
route to avoid the current configuration of its sports pitches.
Alison Lea refused the proposals principally because of
the impact of the changes on public enjoyment, in particular the loss of views
which the Harrow West MP, Gareth Thomas, called ‘spectacular’ in his evidence
to the inquiry. The paths provide direct walking routes to
Harrow-on-the-Hill with its impressive church-spire, whereas the views from the
diverted routes were, the inspector said, ‘unexceptional’.
She also considered that the school had exaggerated the
benefits of the proposed diversions.
At the public inquiry, the school was represented by a QC,
assisted by a junior barrister; the council was also legally represented, but
the objectors represented themselves.
Appearing as objectors at the inquiry were Kate Ashbrook
of the Open Spaces Society and Ramblers, Gareth Thomas MP, Harrow Councillor
Sue Anderson, Paul Catherall of the Harrow Hill Trust, Brent Councillor Keith
Perrin, and local residents Gaynor Lloyd, Christopher Eley, John Parker and
Margaret Roake. Others submitted written objections.
Says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces
Society and footpath secretary of the Ramblers Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes
and West Middlesex Area: ‘It has taken local people 14 years of strenuous
campaigning against the might of Harrow School to save these footpaths, with
their splendid views and sense of purpose.
‘Now we shall press the council again to ensure that
Harrow School reopens the blocked footpath 57. We shall be fortified by
the inspector’s decision—the council can no longer avoid taking action to
resolve this mess.’
Sisters Margaret and Dorothy Roake add: ‘As residents of
almost eighty years standing we can testify that the footpaths pre-date much of
the local built environment. They have been actively used by local people
to reach St Mary’s church or the many hostelries and other interesting buildings
that make up the village on the hill. It is natural to set one’s eye on a
destination and walk straight towards it. The proposed diversions are
inconvenient and considerably longer.’
