Improvements to a popular public footpath to link Tamworth town centre, the railway station and a new housing development are underway.

The work on Public Footpath Number 4 Tamworth is being co-ordinated by Staffordshire County Council’s Rights of Way department and being carried out by highways crews.

The footpath provides links between Tamworth town centre and Tamworth Railway Station to the new housing development at Anker Valley. The improvements will see the footpath tarmacked between the Bellway site and the railway line where a stone surfaced path already exists. The improved surface will mean safer and smoother journeys for pedestrians, pushchair, and wheelchair users all year round.

The planning follows discussions between the Rights of Way team, county councillor Robert Prichard, Tamworth Borough Council and the developer Bellway, who have between them provided the £35,000 required for the scheme. The work is expected to take around two weeks to complete.

Robert Pritchard, Staffordshire County Councillor for Perrycrofts said:

This is an important project for me and people living on the new estate, and I was delighted to use part of my local divisional funding towards it.

With the help of the rights of way team at the county council, Tamworth Borough Council and the developer who agreed the path could be built we have got to where we are today. The path is very well used but as it was just gravel and stone it got quite muddy during the winter which made it difficult to navigate especially for people with pushchairs and wheelchair users. Once complete and fully tarmacked it will be usable all year round.

After this is finished I hope to work with Network Rail on a second project to hard surface the remainder of Tamworth Footpath No 4 which runs from the railway line to Stationfields Park Homes.
 

Victoria Wilson, Cabinet Member for Communities and Culture at Staffordshire County Council added:

It’s great to see work start on the path which will be wonderful for local residents.

Cllr Pritchard has worked incredibly hard on this to secure the funding and the permissions needed so the work can be carried out. The improvements to the route will hopefully help encourage more people to walk or cycle rather than driving to access facilities, shops and the train station. It just goes to prove, that when we all work together we can get things done for the benefit of our local communities.”

The path will remain open throughout the work and members of the crew will assist people when passing through.