Fencing must come down but gates can stay

A BLOCKADE which divided a Barnstaple community must come down, a council says — but another set of controversial barricades can stay.

Eight-foot-high metal fencing at Rock Park Terrace which was erected in the summer 2008 will be taken down after a Devon County Council committee recommended the lane should be a public right of way.

But the committee decided there was insufficient evidence to make Prospect Place — which is only a few hundred yards from Rock Park Terrace — a right of way, and six-foot-high metal gates there can remain.

Both lanes were blocked by residents concerned about anti-social behaviour. The blockades caused outrage among local people, some of whom had used the routes for decades.

Barnstaple district councillor Chris Haywood (Lib Dem) said: "I am delighted Rock Park Terrace will be reopened as this is something I have campaigned for since they went up. People need safe access to the park and I'm glad that will finally be granted.

"With regards to Prospect Place, I support the committee's decision but am still happy to hear from any residents who may wish to discuss it."

A Prospect Place resident who wished to remain nameless said: "This is not a right of way and I'm glad the gates are here to stay. I didn't physically put the gates up but I voted for them at a residents' meeting.

"I was sick of the vandalism. We'd had attempted arson, burglaries, broken car windows and graffiti. The spikes on the gates are designed to deter people but idiots keep climbing over them."

However, Sue Bidiscombe who works at John Patts Fruit Shop opposite Prospect Place believes schoolchildren will suffer. She said: "They have to walk a long way round to school now and get soaked when it's raining.

"I can't see many people being happy about this — it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt trying to climb over."

North Devon MP Nick Harvey described the erection of the Rock Park Terrace gates as a "cavalier" act and was delighted to hear that "common sense had finally prevailed."

The person who erected the gates at Rock Park Terrace, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Journal the decision to adopt the lane as a right of way was "wrong."

He said he had suffered vandalism to the tune of £4,500 to his vehicles and had put up the gates to prevent drunk young people walking past them.

However, 80-year-old Doris Mawson, who has lived on Rock Park Terrace for more than 50 years, said: "This has been a public right of way for as long as I can remember and I am happy that this decision has been reached. The man who put them up seems to think he owns the whole terrace."