A missing link!

Part of the Lavenham Railway Walk

Off to Lavenham yesterday with Christine Johnson, Acton Parish Councillor, to a meeting held to discuss Suffolk County Council’s wish to divest themselves of responsibility for the Lavenham and Long Melford Railway walks.

In common with a number of the County’s divestment projects their ‘timetable’ has now slipped.  County Council officers have, as a result, had the time to notice that part of the Lavenham Walk, including the larger part of a very interesting Site of Special Scientific Interest, does not lie in Lavenham Parish at all, but in Acton.  This was spotted by Lavenham Parish Council a little while ago, and, as a result, they have been including Acton in their discussions.  However, I honestly think that the penny only finally dropped for some of the County Council officers yesterday afternoon.

It is the County’s clearly stated desire not only to get rid of the railway walks, including the SSSI, by passing them over to local communities, but also to create a public (rather than permissive) footpath along its length such that one can actually link the Lavenham section with the Long Melford part.  At present it is only possible to do this by trespassing (probably) or by going a very long way round! 

I do not wish to prejudge, the attitude of Acton’s Parish Council when County Council officers finally get round to approaching them to discuss their plans.  However there are a few obvious problems.

Firstly the path and the SSSI is a long way to the north of Acton and it is currently inaccessible from the footpath system leading from the village.

Secondly, the cost of maintaining of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (which is incidentally fantastically beautiful) is far higher than that of any other part of the route.  This is because the sides at that point are steep and have to be cut manually and with great care to avoid damaging the wild orchids etc that grow in the chalky soil (yes chalk!).

I do hope that some accommodation can be found through co-operation with Lavenham and Long Melford.  A joined up path would be of clear benefit to their communities.  However, it is hard to see how any benefit accruing to Acton residents would justify a large financial outlay.

Part of the Long Melford walk