The subject of rights of way, public footpaths etc. does not appear to be a planning matter and so our protests that South Tyneside Council gave parts of the England Coastal Path to the developers of an old computer centre fell on deaf ears and favoured customers such as Keywest No. Three Ltd benefitted considerably.

The Principal Planning Officer in charge of closing access to the river Tyne from Readheads Landing in 2013  got away with it  because access to waterways is very ancient and appears to be controlled by Parliament and not by the Local Council. However river landings are detested by the likes of the Port of Tyne and South Tyneside Council because they do not profit while having to maintain the navigation and launching ramps etc.

We do not know what either the Port of Tyne or Mr Cunningham told Pariament but Readheads landing was closed in mid 2013 and that left the path to a former landing and it looks it was simply given to the Port of Tyne being the owners of the adjacent land.

Meanwhile there was still a need to maintain the navigation to, Tyne Slipway and Engineering Co. Ltd, which employed a number of skilled craftsman employed to maintain the Port of Tyne’s pilot boats and the Shields Ferries but the Port of Tyne wished to close Tyne Dock completely so as to be able to expand their woodchip (Biofuel)  import business.

The solution to this problem was provided by South Tyneside Council who allowed the successors to  simply turned a blind eye to ancient and not so ancient parcels of land are given to property developers in this way. They do not own these but as soon as the Council approve the adjacent development the control of the lanes or footpaths passes to the owner(s) of adjacent properties.

Protest appears to be a waste of time because the activities of Planning Officers and others, such as Enforcement Officers simply close down a conversation but the fact still remains that what was a public footpath was given away.