Concern over public footpath maintenance around Crossness

Dear Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve,

I have been getting a lot of complaints about the state of Footpaths 1 and 2 between the nature reserve and southern marsh/Eastern Way, and Footpath 2 that runs east-west from the nature reserve to Belvedere Road.

Unfortunately, these are public footpaths and as such are managed by Bexley Council and their grounds maintenance contractors. I have contacted Bexley numerous times about getting these paths cut, but without success. Since the paths haven’t been cut at all this year, it will be no surprise that they have all but disappeared (see photos attached).

Unfortunately, I do not have the resources to cut Council footpaths, and with just my two volunteers, we are having a big enough battle keeping our own paths cut. I hate that they are in this state and impeding access, for which I am really very sorry, but could I encourage you to direct your frustration at Bexley, as Public Footpath owners, rather than myself please.

The general Bexley number is 020 8303 7171. The chap in charge of footpaths in the north of the borough is Tony Morris and he can be contacted at Antony.Morris@bexley.gov.uk.

Once again, apologies for the condition, but I’m really hoping that the Council’s grounds maintenance contractors will address this asap.

Kind regards

Karen Sutton – Biodiversity Team Manager