Fen| News Environment
Walking Back To Happiness T
RIGHTS OF WAY OFFICER PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN OUR COUNTRYSIDE ACCESS…
he pressures of the pandemic and the desire to get out once a day
during Lockdown has seen a massive increase in the number of people discovering and using footpaths, bridleways and byways, known collectively as Public Rights of Way. Witchford’s Mark Peck is one of three Public Rights of Way Officers working for Cambridgeshire County Council, responsible for the maintenance and protection of Public Rights of Way.
Mark grew up in the countryside on a farm. On leaving school, he initially went to agricultural college, dabbled in a career in conservation and spent three years as a Rights of Way Inspector for Herts County Council.
Mark then moved into a
career in Youth and Community Work, spending 10 years with The National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs throughout the 90’s before working with the voluntary sector in Cambridgeshire, then
Cambridgeshire County Council Children’s Services. Mark’s current Rights Of Way
role covers the Districts of East Cambridgeshire and Fenland. Cambridgeshire has 3,231km of Public Rights of Way, of which
804km are in East Cambs. Mark’s typical day-to-day duties include responding to reports on rights of way issues – armed with a copy of definitive map and details of the reported problem.
DEEP RUTS
“One of the biggest issues that I have to deal with in East Cambs is damage caused to the surface of byways open to all traffic,” says Mark. “Often, deep ruts and sink holes are created by recreational 4x4 vehicles purposefully seeking out droves that are wet and muddy.”
Mark can quote examples
Far Left: Mark is pictured in a four foot rut on a footpath
Left: The
impassable track was subsequently restored.
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where four-foot-deep ruts and sink holes have been created on these byways, making them dangerous to be used by walkers and horse riders. “In these cases, the most effective course of action is to wait until we can access road planings coming directly off a local road resurfacing project and hire a contractor to fill the holes
Above: Mark Peck watches over 804km of Rights of Way in East Cambs.
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