The Warwickshire County Council Regulatory Committee met to discuss a diversion order for a public footpath, and to note the delegated decisions that had been made since their last meeting. The committee voted to send the diversion order for public footpath T9 in Middleton to the Secretary of State for confirmation.

Public Footpath Diversion

The committee supported the diversion of a section of public footpath T9 in Middleton, under section 119 of the Highways Act 1980, and authorised the Executive Director for Communities to submit the order to the Secretary of State for confirmation.

Sonu Copson, Rights of Way Definitive Mapping Officer, explained that the order, signed on 16 September 2025, sought to divert part of public footpath T9 from points A to B, to a new route between points A to C to D. The applicant wished to divert the footpath to give them more privacy and a feeling of security, and to stop the public from walking down an unsafe embankment. The proposed route would also give the public greater visibility of the countryside, and remove a stile. The Middleton Parish Council and the farmer who owned the land through which the diverted path would go, supported the scheme.

Two objections had been received during the order making stage, which had not been resolved. The committee were asked to decide whether to send the order to the Secretary of State, or not to proceed any further with the order.

Councillor Stuart Green, as the local member, said he had walked the route several times and that the current route involved a steep bank and bridge, and ran close to a brook that meant the footpath could become boggy. He added that the route was intrusive to two sets of residents, and that the revised route was less intrusive, with the end point equidistant to the continuing points of footpaths T9 and T17.

Councillor Keith Kondakor raised concerns about the length of walk required along Green Lane to continue access to footpaths T9 and T17, and asked for a decision to be deferred for a site visit. This proposal did not receive support.

Richard Fenwick, Director of Highways, clarified that footpath T9 terminated when it reached Green Lane, and that the footpath on the other side of Green Lane was a separate legal entity rather than a continuation of T9. He said that information on usage of Green Lane was included within the report.

The committee then voted to support the diversion of the footpath.

The Public reports pack included the following appendices:

• Order and Plan dated 16 September 2025
• Letter of objection
• Letter of objection
• Flowchart of processing an application
• Letters supporting the application
• Map of proposed diversion
• Planning Inspectorate guidance on Rights of Way
• DEFRA guidance on Rights of Way
• Warwickshire County Council Rights of Way Improvement Plan
• Decision report

Delegated Decisions

The committee noted the delegated decisions that had been made since the last meeting.