Latest news with #footpath
Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Times
Sleepy Cotswolds hamlet shut down as JD Vance's holiday gets under way
As Janet and Jean headed off for their traditional Sunday walk through the shaded woods of the Cotswolds hamlet of Dean, they were stopped by two police officers blocking the footpath. The friends, in their seventies, were caught out by the massive security operation closing off all roads and footpaths into Dean so that JD Vance, the US vice-president, could enjoy a quiet family holiday at Dean Manor, the 18th century country house which neighbours David Cameron's Oxfordshire home. 'I told the police 'we are two old ladies, we are hardly terrorists',' Janet, who didn't want to give her real name, said. 'The police officers were very nice, one had come from High Wycombe and the other came from Marlow. 'We said 'you poor things, guarding this awful man'. It must be costing us a fortune. Another few thousands pounds down the pan.' The friends, who live in nearby Chadlington, said villagers had become resigned to the nuisance caused by visitors to Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm shop, which is on the outskirts of the village, but this was on another level. 'It's one blinking pantomime after the other,' Jean said. 'We are used to the great and good here. Before David Cameron moved in we had Douglas Hurd and he was lovely. We have Ben Kingsley in Spelsbury and we see him in the woods walking his dog, but to close off the roads is ridiculous.' US Secret Service officers, dressed down in cream chinos and pale blue T-shirts, and uniformed officers from Thames Valley Police, were stationed at every road and footpath entrance to Dean on Sunday, checking the identity of residents trying to get in and out of their hamlet. American officials were overheard at one road block mimicking a British accent and asking each other about hoping to try 'a bacon butty' and a 'Sunday dinner' during their trip. One Secret Service member said to another: 'I didn't know I'd need sunblock in the UK.' Sniffer dogs were used to search vans coming through the roadblocks. One bemused driver in a removals van asked for directions to Dean Manor. When he was asked by The Times what he was delivering, he said: 'It's for some American guy. I don't know, it's all top secret.' Inside the security cordon, the single road through the small collection of honey-coloured stone houses was quiet, apart from the regular comings and goings of police vans and people carriers and minibuses with blacked out windows, ferrying personnel back and forth from the manor. One resident, who runs a fresh eggs honesty box, was not phased by the operation. 'We had Vivienne Westwood driving up here in a tank to protest against David Cameron when he was prime minister, so there's all sorts that have gone on,' she said. 'It's no great hassle. As long as they don't bother me I don't bother with them.' Another resident said they didn't know Vance was staying at Dean Manor until security tents were erected on the roads into the hamlet on Saturday. The roadblocks began on Sunday. 'I've told some friends in America what's happening and they hate him,' he said. 'They live in Pennsylvania and they're lifelong Democrats. When I told them they just sent me an emoji of some sort of horror. Anyway, I've got nothing against the guy. If he wants to have a holiday that's fine. 'But what sort of holiday can you have when you've got thousands of security guys around you?' Johnny and Pippa Hornby, the millionaire owners who bought Dean Manor as their home in 2017, have apologised to some locals for 'the circus for the next few days' and said they hoped it would not be 'too disruptive'. Mr Hornby, chief executive of Luceco, the lighting and electricals company, and his wife open their 18th century manor house's gardens to the public and have hosted artist residencies. Tatler, the society bible, gave Dean Manor the 'best swimming pool' award in their Country House Awards in 2023, saying: 'Johnny and Pippa Hornby have transformed an Edwardian garden into a waterworld, filled with friends and family. Even the Camerons have been known to pop over for a dip.' Vance, his wife Usha, and their three children Ewan, eight, Vivek, five, and Mirabel, three, will be able to enjoy the outdoor pool during the heatwave, as well as the tennis court and six acres of manicured gardens. Their description on the National Garden Scheme website says the garden's 'stone walls are home to an abundant and varied selection of climbing/rambling roses, clematis and hydrangeas'. 'The formal gardens include complex yew hedging and herbaceous borders, kitchen and cutting garden, areas of wildflower meadow, an orchard and water gardens make up areas around the house.' Before arriving in the Cotswolds, Vance kept hundreds visitors to Hampton Court Palace locked out of the historic attraction on Sunday morning as it was shut down while his family enjoyed a tour of Henry VIII's former residence. The vice-president was seen yawning as he left the palace to join his 20-vehicle motorcade. Hundreds of bewildered ticket holders, mostly families with children standing outside, were denied entry at 11am and told to come back at 12pm. They weren't able to begin their visits until 12.30pm. Vance has previously had to cut holidays short and take extra safety precautions following protests by locals. In March, he curtailed his Vermont ski trip after crowds turned out to protest a day after he 'ambushed' President Zelensky in a bad-tempered meeting between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian leader in the White House. When the Vances visited Rome the following month, the Colosseum was closed early to accommodate them, which infuriated tourists. The Stop Trump Coalition is holding a protest on Tuesday in Charlbury, the nearby village which is home to The Bull pub, where celebrities such as Kamala Harris, the previous US vice- president, Ellen DeGeneres and Robbie Williams have dined in the past month. Laura Macy, an American resident of Charlbury, said she hoped to join the protest but did not want Vance's children to be intimidated. 'Let's all who deplore Trump, Vance, and the deplorable situation in the US raise our voices in any way we can,' she said. 'But let's be careful not to catch any innocent children in the crossfire. 'I have the faces of the young Obama girls, hearing the opposing side's jeers and racist abuse on election night 2008, seared on my memory. They didn't deserve that, and not just because their father is on my side of the political fence. They were children.'
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Developers let off Huddersfield path promised 10 years ago
A housing developer has been told it does not have to complete a footpath promised in plans for an estate built in Huddersfield 10 years Homes built 42 homes on land off Cowrakes Road in Lindley, but failed to construct a pathway which was part of the original application, linking Dryden Way and Wadsworth February this year the developer submitted an application to vary conditions, allowing them to scrap the footpath and plant the site with wildflowers Council planners said the wording of the original application made it impossible for them to enforce the building of the footpath and would instead accept the floral landscaping plan. More than 40 objections to the flower bed scheme were lodged with the council, with residents saying the cost of maintenance of the landscaped area would fall on homeowners via estate management to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, one person commented: "Expecting residents to bear the cost of maintaining an area that serves them no practical purpose is entirely unreasonable."This appears to be a deliberate attempt to evade responsibilities laid out in the original agreement." However, West Yorkshire Police agreed that the path should be omitted from plans as it would be "narrow and unlit" and would "increase opportunities for anti-social behaviour".Jon Beeson, planning manager at Harron Homes, said it was "perhaps regrettable" that the path was not built originally, with the company now wanting to resolve the "legacy issue".He said the path on the estate, which saw building work begin in 2011 and houses built and occupied over the last decade, would have been of "very modest" benefit to a small number of officer Liz Chippendale, said: "There was no dedicated condition explicitly requiring the provision of the footpath imposed at the time of the original decision."The local planning authority are therefore unable to enforce the construction of the footpath and refusing to accept the variation of condition would be unreasonable." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
26-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Residents demand answers over ongoing footpath closure at beauty spot
Residents came together at a council meeting to air their frustrations at the ongoing closure of a footpath to a beauty spot. Kirkby Lonsdale residents turned out in large numbers at the town council meeting to hear from councillors and local MPs about plans for the footpath which has been closed for almost four years. Notice was given in November 2021 that the 140m stretch of the public footpath at Ruskin's View would be closed for repairs after a landslip left the path dangerous to the public. Residents were told last month that the footpath would not be reopened as originally planned with the new target date in November 2025. A resident present at the meeting said: 'There is extreme dissatisfaction despite continuing expenditure that the footpath across the Brow remains closed. 'I volunteered to give advice to the Town Council since retiring from a career in management on construction and civil engineering projects. I was invited to become a member of the Town Council Technical Team which is headed by a consultant with no professional qualifications. Unfortunately, due to a constant conflict of opinions, I resigned.' Residents were told that the date for reopening relies on the insertion of boreholes to register movement in the ground - the exact cost of which is unclear with amounts of up to £250,000 quoted during this month's meeting. Read more Dentdale: MP meets with family of sick child hit by road closure Arnside: Silverdale Road closed for 21 days due to burst water main Lake District litter warning after toddler needed stitches Malcolm Perrin, health and safety consultant and head of the town council technical team, set out targets for a longer term plan to prevent further erosion of the river bank, a project that the council estimate will cost £2million. Mr Perrin said: "Our primary goal is to reopen the remaining section of The Brow footpath as soon as possible, building on last year's success when we reopened the first part up to the initial Ruskin's View platform. "For over a year now, we've published monthly Technical Reports on the KLTC website, detailing progress and associated costs. These are available for public review." Concerns were raised about the presence of Japanese knotweed on adjacent land that would need to be accessed for the works to be carried out with residents worried about impact to the water safety on this site. "Both Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam pose a risk of spreading via foot traffic from the River Lune into residential areas," said Mr Perrin. "As part of our duty of care, we're proposing to install a single fence panel to block the narrow track and guide pedestrians around the affected area, rather than through it. "Additionally, I've observed signs of pollution along the river walk between Kirkby Lonsdale and Devil's Bridge since April this year. I've been documenting these findings and have reported the matter to the Environment Agency." The footpath closure will be discussed further at the the next town council meeting on Wednesday, August 20.
