Residents’ anger as path foliage is hacked back
Tidying up a footpath has revealed to residents that it is no longer in public ownership.
The route which connects Huntsman Lane with Snowdon Avenue in Vinters Park had become overgrown, with residents repeatedly asking Kent County Council to tackle the out-of-control foliage.
Once the work was done and people complained about the extent it had been hacked back, the change in ownership was revealed.
Roseanne Harding, who lives in Goldthorne Close which runs parallel to the footpath, phoned KCC and Maidstone Borough Council to see why such radical measures were necessary, but both authorities said they were not responsible for the route.
She was told the footpath is owned by Valley Invicta Academies Trust and was transferred by KCC when the trust took over Valley Park School and Invicta Grammar School in 2011.
She said: “No residents were made aware of the change in ownership.
“A council shouldn’t be able to transfer public land to an academy without making people aware.”
A spokesman for the trust, which also runs Aylesford Primary School and primaries at Leybourne Chase, Kings Hill and Holborough Lakes, said it only became aware of the change of ownership six months after it took over Valley Park and Invicta.
They added that the work completed was necessary.
Miss Harding said the dramatic change had caused a devastating effect on wildlife.
She said: “Many birds and other animals lived in the trees and bushes but now they have nowhere to go. I can tell because many of them used the feeder in my garden but now none do.
“The foliage definitely needed cutting back but they have taken it to the extreme.
“When I approached contractors they said the work was something to do with health and safety.”
She added uprooting the trees has weakened the fences along the path which now look like they could fall down.
KCC have not given a comment.