‘Smoke and Mirrors’: Ashby Town Council push for a solution to closure of footpath 089

At a meeting of the full Ashby Town Council on the evening of Monday 21st July, the subject of how to manage the closure of footpath 089 through Wainwright's Yard sparked debate among Councillors and members of the public.

The footpath was shut due to a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order issued on 6th June 2025 until 'such times a safe pedestrian route can be implemented.'

This weekend, local MP Amanda Hack met with Leader of Ashby Town Council Councillor Chris Smith and Money Hill ward District Councillor Murrae Blair-Park to discuss the closure of the footpath.

MP Amanda Hack with District Councillor Murrae Blair-Park and Town Council Leader Cllr Chris Smith (Photo: Amanda Hack)

In a statement published today, Hack said: "Town Councillors have been keeping me up to date with the issue, and we have now requested some further information from Leicestershire County Council about the decision to close the footpath so suddenly, and without notice or consultation.

"This footpath is an important link between the new Money Hill development, car park and town centre which must remain accessible."

A motion put forward by Councillor Chris Smith to call on Leicestershire County Council and the Landowner to take action to reopen the footpath before the end of the school holidays, as well as come up with a longer-term plan for the footpath.

As part of the motion by Cllr Smith, there was a 'lack of any consultation prior to the order being implemented; no evidence to support the claim that there is an increase in pedestrian usage at the times when the lorry movements occur; no evidence to support the claim that the risks associated with the footpath exceeds a level that requires immediate closure; and no risk assessment that demonstrates that the alternative route is more acceptable.'

A complaint among several councillors and members of the public that was raised at the meeting with the handling of the situation by the landowners, County Council and Councillor Dan Harrison.

From the run-up to the closure to this point, communications between Ashby Town Council and Leicestershire County Council have been strained, with a lack of transparency from the County Council ahead of the closure.

These communication issues are compounded by the sub-group of Town Councillors that have been having private discussions with the landowner and Cllr Harrison without much transparency to the rest of the Town Council.

This issue was specifically raised by a member of the public during the meeting, asking Councillor Kenny Horn if there was something else going on.

Councillor Kenny Horn was asked if there was corruption going on by a member of public (Second from left in left image) (Photo: Ashby Nub News)

The gentleman said: "I'd like to ask Councillor Horn, if the process is so transparent and the information available, when I put in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request in to find out [about the] risk assessments [that] have taken place both by the Council and by the business owner. The Councillor hasn't responded, the County Council hasn't responded. Now we're four days past the 20 working days they have to respond so the whole process looks hidden and to a certain extent, I can only assume there's some corruption that's taking place within this because the footpath was closed unnecessarily and there is no information provided as to why."

Councillor Horn responded first by making it clear he cannot speak on behalf of the County Council and that he doesn't know about the status of the FOI request.

He continued to say: "I can't speak to why you haven't had a response from the County Council, I just can't. But what I can tell you is there is a process and progress is being made. [...] There is a plan being drawn up that all parties and landowners will hopefully sign up to as part of the process to work towards some sort of temporary reopening."

The fact that these meetings and discussions were taking place behind closed doors was a source of contention for the Town Council.

Both Councillors Murrae Blair-Park and Alison Morley used the term 'Smoke and Mirrors' to describe how the County Council and small group of Councillors were handling the situation.

"As the District Councillor for the ward [that the footpath is in], I've not been included in any of these discussions," said Cllr Blair-Park. "I've not been invited to these meetings."

"Negotiation on the back of the Right of Way is wrong," said Cllr Blair-Park.

Cllr Morley agreed, saying: "It is the land owners responsibility to get it opened."

Footpath 089 starts by Ivanhoe School and goes through the yard owned by Wainwright (Photo: Ashby Town Council)

In a previous planning committee meeting on Councillor Zamani put forward the suggestion for the Council to purchase an alternative strip of land outside of Wainwright's Yard that is still owned by them. The land was valued by Wainwright's at £500,000.

The discussion of this has led to concerns that the landowners are simply seeking financial gain by closing the footpath and that it has been allowed to get to this point due to a conflict of interest with Councillor Dan Harrison.

It was pointed out that Cllr Harrison previously represented Wainwright only a short time before becoming Leader of the County Council, with a potential conflict of interest playing a part in the way the matter has been handled.

Despite disagreements within the Town Council, Councillors voted through Cllr Smith's motion, with all voting in favour except Cllr Horn who abstained.

The motion outlined the following four points to request the responsible parties to do the following:

The landowner should prepare an action plan to create a safer route by removing all the obstacles to the left of the drive entrance to the yard and institute a banksman system when vehicle movements are expected in and out of the yard – to be completed by the end of July.
The action plan should be implemented by the end of August in time for the start of the new school year.
If the landowner has not provided an action plan by the end of July or is not taking the necessary actions during August to implement the plan, the County Council should prepare its own interim plan and take enforcement action on the landowner to implement the plan.
The County Council should prepare layout and implementation plans, with actions and timescales, for the longer term solution involving the upgrading of the route to make it safe for walking and cycling, as envisaged in the Money Hill Masterplan (July 2019) and intended to be funded by S106 contributions – to be completed by the end of August.