A PROJECT to develop a network of countryside paths as part of the Island’s post-Covid recovery has come under scrutiny – after it emerged that half of the scheme’s budget had mainly been spent on refurbishing existing routes.
However, senior environment officer Julia Clively has defended the initiative, stating that many of the refurbished paths would be ‘like new’, as they are currently in various stages of disrepair or closed-off to the public.
The Countryside Access and Wellbeing project was announced last year with the aim of creating a range of new or repurposed paths, using £750,000 allocated from the Covid-19 Health and Social Recovery Fund.
Bodies such as government departments, parishes and the National Trust for Jersey, as well as private landowners, were encouraged to speak to Natural Environment officials before making an application to take part in the scheme.
The steering group overseeing the funding has so far awarded around £390,409 to 11 projects.
Of these, ten involve existing paths being refurbished, with one new route being planned for the north coast at Sorel.
In a statement, the Environment Department said: ‘The projects are based in St Peter (one path), St Saviour (two), St Ouen (seven) and St John (one). The total combined length of the paths is 3.04 miles.
‘The projects are still in the planning phase, with the applicants working on, for example, planning consent and negotiating landowner agreements.’
Once the work on the paths has been completed, their exact locations will be included on a countryside access map available via the gov.je website.
Deputy Steve Luce, who chairs the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, has called for a breakdown of exactly how the funding has been used.
‘I have to say that for [more than] a quarter of a million, the public should expect something new – it is a lot of money. With more than half the budget spent, telling us that one new path is coming is disappointing,’ he said.
The Deputy added: ‘Having said that, it would be nice to see the detail of how the money has been spent. It may be the case that these are very old paths being brought back into use.’
National Trust for Jersey chief executive Charles Alluto said the refurbished paths could prove worthwhile if they were properly looked after, but admitted it would be ‘a pity’ if only one new route was created.
‘One of the challenges is that you have to not only encourage people to construct a path, but to maintain it afterwards,’ he continued.
‘It is equally worth asking why these [refurbished] paths have not been maintained and if they will be in the future.’
Ms Clively said she thought the money had been ‘extremely well spent’, as many of the refurbished paths were not being used due to their current state and would be ‘like new’.
‘Some of these paths have been lost to the public,’ she explained.
‘It’s really important to get the planning stage right, because it’s not just as simple as digging a footpath across someone’s field.’
Ms Clively added that it would be the responsibility of the applicants to maintain the paths after they had been created or refurbished.
