Thursday, November 24, 2005
Redhead's landing reply
Gates firmly locked by Lucas! (Redhead's Landing to remain "out of bounds")
The Chief executive of South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council, Irene Lucas has finally made a written statement after months of campaigning and lobbying by myself and others.
Writing to South Shields MP David Miliband she says
"Following your enquiry, you may be aware that we have also received contact direct from members of the public about this issue.
Due to the nature of these enquiries, it may not be easy to provide a quick and definitive response but I hope the following may be of use to you in the interim.
Further investigations have been made into the ownership of the slipway and we are clear that it is not owned by the council. We are continuing in our attempts to identify the actual owner.
The slipway does not appear on the definitive map as a public right of way, nor do we have any other evidence to prove it as such. For the moment therefore it is not viewed as a public right of way. Similarly, it is not a public highway in the sense of a vehicle carriageway due to a formal stopping up order dating back to 1937.
Recent letters in the Shields Gazette claim that the council has an obligation to open the gates as part of planning permission granted in 1990. Our solicitors advise that this is not the case as the condition attached to the 1990 planning permission is invalid.
A number of photographers appear to use the landing and one of them, has now submitted an application to have the slipway added to the definitive map as a right of way. We are in contact with him about how this needs to be done. I expect that it will be some time before it can be proven that it has (or has not) enjoyed continued uninterrupted use as a footpath for 20 years and until then the Council will seek to identify the most appropriate outcome to address the range of access and anti-social behaviour issues associated with the site.
I will contact you again in due course."
I am afraid that I find Ms. Lucas' reply to be a shambolic rebuff to our MP and an affront to the intelligence, a symbolic slap in the face to those of us who have enjoyed public access to Redhead's Landing for countless years.
Her letter to David Miliband simply reiterates all that we already know, it does not reveal anything new or useful, other than to confirm Neil Carter's legal advice, which I still question.
By implying that the provision of proof for uninterrupted use as a place of public access for at least twenty years will be difficult, she displays a lack of local knowledge and history which we will confidently counter. There are many from at least two generations before me who can attest to having unfettered access to this landing, even as children!
The legal argument that enforcement of the planning conditions would be invalid is based upon the risk of injuries to members of the public caused by the present condition of the slipway, granted it is a place where caution should be exercised, it is slippery when wet, there is an accumulation of debris and rubbish, it has no lifesaving equipment (not a condition asked for in 1990). We could apply some of these descriptions to the Groyne slipway and the rocks around the Groyne, the South Pier, Trow Rocks, Marsden Rock, or even Cleadon Hills when it rains. Yet nobody would wish to suggest that the public lose their access to these amenities in case they injure themselves!
We were told that a lot of the debris and rubbish on the landing was as a result of flytipping, but not a single officer of the Council could explain how flytipping could occur during the long periods when Tyne Slipway Engineering Ltd. had locked the access gate! Nobody was able to explain the large amounts of rubbish placed just behind the gates, whilst a large area near the river edge was perfectly clear and useable.
One would have thought it useful to question those Councillors, who are still alive, and who served on the Planning Committee in 1990 which agreed to take enforcement action to keep the pedestrian access gate open, and find out exactly why they made that decision, they must have had a good reason to insist upon a pubic access gate being kept open at all times!
Furthermore, it should be incumbent upon the landowner to provide the necessary safety equipment, and the clean up of the landing, as well as providing full public liability insurance cover for those visiting.
Ms. Lucas also writes
"We are continuing in our attempts to identify the actual owner",
this investigation, if indeed it is happening, has now been ongoing for a number of years, if one bothers to research Planning Committe minutes going all the way back to the 1980's and 1990's. One wonders how much energy and vigour is being put into this investigation.
Ms. Lucas' final point
"the Council will seek to identify the most appropriate outcome to address the range of access and anti-social behaviour issues associated with the site. "
How many more months will pass whilst the Council identifies it's options?
Will they consider acquiring the landing and making it available once again as a place of public access to the river, and add it to the Catherine Cookson trail? What will they do about the most anti-social element in this saga - Tyne Slipway Engineering Ltd. - who have arbitrarily locked the gate over the course of a number of years?
At risk of repeating myself, the greatest danger is that Tyne Slipway Engineering Ltd. will eventually use the 2004 Land Registration Act and make a claim to the title of the land, thus ensuring that the public will never again be able to access the riverside from Redhead's Landing. This could feasibly happen due to the "head in the sand" stance of South Tyneside Council.
One further batch of questions;
Why are the Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council unable to provide answers to my questions and enquiries ?
Who has been responsible for taking the current decisions about locking the public access gate - officers or Councillors?
Which committee meeting were these decisions taken at? (I have not seen any minuted references to this decision on the Council's Website).
When will some Councillor of ours have the sheer nerve to challenge officers and make some serious headway into this problem. Indeed, when will some of our elected representatives show some leadership and start taking decisions, formulating policy, instead of meakly following recommendations?
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