A RESIDENT of Ashburton is accusing the council of ‘passing the buck’ by not clearing the pathway adjacent to her home.

Mrs June Cocks of Beverley Gardens, Ashburton, engages in yearly discourse with Devon County Council over the public footpath adjacent to her home.

The authority asserts that the maintenance of the bank on the southern edge of her property is not their responsibility, but June says different, she says the boundary is halfway across the top of the bank.

Ashburton resident June Cocks and the offending overgrown bank which is steadily taking over the public footpath
Ashburton resident June Cocks and the offending overgrown bank which is steadily taking over the public footpath (Steve Pope/MDA)

‘The path is virtually impassable, there are nettles that are nearly thigh high - it’s ludicrous’ June said.

‘It is a case of total mismanagement - it is just so frustrating’ she added.

June is of the opinion that Devon County Council are ‘passing the buck’, but the authority disagrees.

‘Land Registry checks have confirmed that the bank is privately owned; it’s within the boundary of the property and is therefore the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain’ a spokesman for DCC said.

‘Although we may have cut back the vegetation in the past unfortunately this is something we no longer have the capacity to do’ the spokesperson added.

In decades past the town council had responsibility for maintaining pathways, June recalls how Ashburton Town Council would cut back the vegetation three or fours times a year.

‘Responsibility then got passed over to Teignbridge, and while the number of times the pathway would be cleared dropped, they still came out and did it, only after we phoned of course!’ June said.