Home   Newmarket   News   Article

Subscribe Now

New hope for re-opening of much-used Newmarket footpath linking Exning Road with Willie Snaith Road and Studlands Park estate




A much-used public footpath, linking Newmarket’s Exning Road with Willie Snaith Road and the Studlands Park estate, which was illegally closed, could soon be re-instated after years of campaigning by residents and councillors.

At a town council meeting on Monday, Cllr Andy Drummond said he and fellow councillor, Rachel Hood, had been in talks with the new owner of Morecroft House in Willie Snaith Road, whose previous owner Allied Mechanical Services had fenced off the path when they built a new office complex and extended its car park over what had been the footpath’s route.

“We have emphasised to the new owner the importance of re-instating the path,” said Cllr Drummond “and it is looking promising.”

Cllr Andy Drummond pictured back in 2022 when he was fighting to have a right of way between Willie Snaith Road and Laureate School officially designated as a footpath
Cllr Andy Drummond pictured back in 2022 when he was fighting to have a right of way between Willie Snaith Road and Laureate School officially designated as a footpath

He said he and Cllr Hood had also been pressing West Suffolk Council to do something about the situation as the much-used path provided parents and pupils of Laureate Community Academy with a safe route to the Exning Road school.

Cllr Drummond said, as a result, Cllr Diane Hind who is a member of the district council’s cabinet had written to Newmarket members updating them on the situation.

“We were in discussions with the administrators of the Morecroft House site to ensure that any buyer of the site was fully aware of their responsibilities to reinstate the footpath,” she said.

“The sale of the land has taken some considerable time, but as of earlier this month the site has been acquired by a Haverhill-based company and officers have already been in contact with them to ensure that the reinstatement of the path is treated as an urgent priority by the new owners.

“West Suffolk council officers have also been continuing to engage and work closely with the Suffolk County Council public rights of way team, as we have done throughout the process.”