Guildhallgate row takes on new twist amid access claim
‘REOPEN PATH AS A PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY’ SAYS CITY COUNCILLOR
A ROW over moves to block off a pedestrian route behind Hull’s Guildhall with new iron gates has taken a new twist.
The original decision to install the gates at either end of Hanover Square as part of a £250,000 facelift scheme at Hull City Council’s headquarters initially triggered a political war of words.
Opposition councillors said the gates were a waste of money and questioned claims by Labour leaders they were a necessary new security measure following increased concerns over terrorist attacks in other parts of the country.
After months of argument, work on the new gates started this summer and they are now in place.
However veteran Conservative group leader Councillor John Fareham wants the route to be re-opened as a public right of way.
He has lodged a formal application to have a footpath running along the length of the Guildhall between Quay Street and Lowgate designated as an official public right of way.
The footpath dates back more than 100 years to when the Guildhall was first built and has been used as a popular shortcut between Queens Gardens and the Old Town over the decades.
Councillors will decide application next week even on his though the gates are now in place.
In his application, Cllr Fareham says: “For over a century there has been no obstruction to pedestrian use.”
He said the council had never tried to prevent pedestrians using the route until now or even erected signs saying it was a private road.
In his time as a councillor, he said the installation some years ago of a manually-operated barrier for vehicles entering from Lowgate had been the only attempt to restrict access to the area.
“The right to use the route has been absolute, unchecked and free from any form of interference to my personal knowledge since the last quarter of the last century - and longer.”
An officer report for next week’s Riverside area committee recommends refusal for the application.
In it, the council’s assistant director for major projects and infrastructure Garry Taylor said Cllr Fareham had failed to provide supporting documentary evidence or additional witness statements to support his case.
He added: “The level of evidence required to demonstrate that a right of way can be reasonably alleged to subsist along the route in the application has not been produced.
“Council officers reviewed the submitted application and concluded the evidence of use and thereby existence of a right of way was based purely on the applicant’s own personal use.”