Mr C, a resident of Swallow Drive, first contacted me in the summer of last year with a problem. He and his wife, both in their senior years, were worried that the footpath to their front door (the only way into their house) was increasingly uneven and that soon one of them would trip over. The paving stones (with grass in between) were old and had been damaged a few times by Council mowers maintaining the adjacent grassed areas (although basic repairs had been done), but the path was now uneven again and they were worried.  The path to next door was in a similar condition.  Complaints to the council were getting nowhere.

So I said I would look into it. Several council officers tried to help, but as Mendip was not the owner of the paths, the Council could not pay for any improvement or replacement.  No one seemed to know exactly who the current owner was. Mendip had for some reason not adopted the paths, when the open space either side had been adopted in the early 1980s, after the houses were built.

So I asked for a search of the land register. This revealed, as I suspected, that the paths were still owned by Westbury Homes, or rather the company that bought Westbury Homes in 2006, Persimmon.

So I tracked down the local agent for Persimmon and presented him with the evidence.  I was pleased that Persimmon were happy to help resolve the problem as it was their responsibility.

I asked Mendip officers and Persimmon to discuss. So they did, and it was agreed that once Persimmon had upgraded the paths to a certain specification, Mendip would consider adopting the paths.

Persimmon then carried out the work in Swallow Drive this summer.  Mendip then agreed to adopt the upgraded sections of path, and the adoption process is underway.

Mr and Mrs C were very happy with their new paths!

Thanks go to Persimmon and Mendip officers for making this happen. It took a while, but it was good to get something done, however small, as it really matters to Mr & Mrs C.

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