THE insistence by Devon County Council that it intends to bill a church £1,500 for the closure of a short section of footpath has been branded ‘absurd’ and a symptom of ‘ridiculous bureaucracy’.

The parochial council of St George’s Church, Modbury, has to apply to have a short section of public footpath closed to allow scaffolding to be put up.

The scaffolding is needed for a major renovation of St George’s roof and tower following a successful fundraising campaign, dubbed ‘Raise the Roof’, and grant applications. Work is due to begin in March and run until November, now that the £540,000 fundraising target has been almost met.

The path in question runs along the north west side of the ancient building, but the reason for council treasurer and churchwarden Alex Hammerstein’s ire is that another path exists, on the south side of the church, which will remain open. Anyone wishing to use the closed public right of way will merely have to walk the other way round the church to rejoin the footpath.

And, Alex says, this is the route taken by most people anyway, as it is sunnier, and leading as it does past the church entrance is both wider and flatter.

However, Devon County Council has remained unmoved by the churchwarden’s pleas that it uses discretion to decide the case. Because the work involves closing a public right of way, and diverting users onto another path belonging to the church, the law is clear according to DCC.

In emails exchanged between Alex, county councillor for Modbury Richard Hoskings, and DCC public rights of way warden Paul McFadden, the need to be consistent was emphasised - or farmers, developers and homeowners would also seek exceptions to close public paths.

In one email, Mr McFadden explained: ‘It is a fundamental statutory duty of Devon County Council, as highway authority, to protect and assert the rights of the public to the use of the public highway.

‘This is not council policy, this is primary legislation.

‘If a public highway is no longer available for the public to use, and/or it would be hazardous for the public to do so, then it is a legal requirement that the highway authority issue and advertise a closure notice or order. Again, this is primary legislation, not some internal policy that we can interpret as we like.

‘Nor is it relevant that there is an arguably-as-convenient alternative route – the issue is that the public have temporarily lost their right to the use of a specific public highway.’

But Alex said: ‘Both paths are the same length, and both start and end at the same place. It’s absolutely absurd, and when I told a few people that the last three fundraising events we’ve done will go towards paying DCC, not putting slates on the roof, they went ballistic.

‘DCC themselves have said that there is an almost identical path available. Why are they not able to use their discretion?’

Unless DCC changes its mind, Modbury’s church council faces having to pay £1,500 to shut the path - £1,000 for the six month closure order and a further £500 for an extension.

A spokesman for DCC said: ‘To close a public right of way to the public for six months costs £1,000 and is a standard fee in these cases.

‘The fee covers logistics, administration and reflects the cost to the council of the legal requirement of advertising the closure twice in the local paper.

‘We are available to work with the landowners to see if it is possible for them to organise their works in a different fashion, so that access to the public right of way is not restricted.’