IT’S OVER!
Britain’s longest-running legal dispute over a footpath has finally been resolved after 58 years but for property owners Archie and Ivy Peppard the victory came too late
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SIBLINGS Archie and Ivy Peppard always hated the sight of walkers trudging past the front door of their farmhouse. They claimed that a council mistake, which resulted in a muddy track becoming an official footpath, ruined their previously peaceful way of life.
From the moment it happened in 1959 they fought to have the decision reversed and eventually went to court. This seemingly minor dispute became Britain’s longest-running planning row.
Only now after almost six decades has it finally gone in favour of the brother and sister but neither is around to celebrate victory. Both Archie and Ivy died in 2011, aged 86 and 81 respectively, but relatives continued the fight on their behalf. Yesterday supporters of the couple, who were described as “simple country folk”, said it was a bitter-sweet moment.
It all began when Somerset County Council added the muddy track to maps showing public footpaths in the late 1950s. It came as a shock to Archie and Ivy, not least because there was a pond slap bang in the middle of the route shown.
The siblings, from the village of High Ham, near Langport, complained that it resulted in their smallholding being besieged by ramblers and the quality of life at their farmhouse was ruined by the constant stream of walkers.
The smallholding was built by their grandfather in 1840. The pair and their supporters produced historical maps dating back to 1799 proving there had never been an official path but it seemed to make no difference. At one stage an exasperated Archie put up a gate but he was soon ordered to pull it down.
In desperation Archie and Ivy called in lawyers in 1973 and the dispute, which is thought to have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees, went all the way to the High Court.
Their local MP even became involved, supporting the battling siblings, but to no avail. More time and taxpayers’ money was wasted on public inquiries.
Footpaths expert Marlene Masters took up their cause in 1994 after they ran out of cash and later continued fighting on behalf of Ivy’s son Rodney, who now lives in the property.
She says: “They were just country folk, weren’t educated and the county council took disproportionate advantage.”
In the past Marlene, now 80, has accused the authorities of “dragging their heels” and described the treatment of the frail siblings as “outrageous”.
In 2012, the year after the siblings died, it appeared that they would have justice from beyond the grave. A judicial review ruled in favour of removing the footpath from the council’s maps but it proved to be a hollow victory. A
MDISPUTE: Rodney, with mother Ivy and uncle Archie, also pictured left. Right: friend and supporter Marlene handful of walkers and a bridleway association objected, making the path a symbol for the right to roam in the countryside and the dispute dragged on for another five years. Throughout the row the path has never been maintained by the council.
She adds: “It’s been a David and Goliath battle. It was all over a muddy track with a hedge on one side and woods on the other. There’s nothing scenic about it.” ARLENE adds: “We can’t find words to say how pleased we are. The council made an error in 1959 and it has blighted the family’s lives. It’s so wrong that people should be told they’re criminals for not wanting others walking over their land.”
She has called on the local authority to compensate surviving members of the Peppard family for “years of anguish and torment”, also accusing “a select few” of prolonging the case needlessly out of a desire to use the track for “recreation at any cost”.
A council spokesman has said: “There are two sides to this. These cases are complex.” The council has pointed out that the latest delay was due to other people objecting to the deletion of the footpath from the records.
It is claimed the resolution of the case will help other home owners who are campaigning to stop ramblers going through their properties and damaging farmland. Since the Countryside And Rights Of Way Act 2000 there has been a rise in confrontations over the right to roam.
In this corner of Somerset the rather dreary track which caused so much trouble for so long will now disappear from new Ordnance Survey maps, following a third public inquiry.
The Government has ratified an inspector’s ruling and it has already been removed from an online rights of way map, meaning that the public can no longer wander unchallenged through the Peppard farmyard.
Sadly it’s too late for Archie and Ivy, who were driven to exhaustion by the planning row but their great ally Marlene has one wish: for 56-year-old Rodney to be allowed to live in the peace that his mother and uncle craved. For his sake, hopefully the saga of the footpath that never was will not produce any more unexpected twists.