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| Map of the area between Woodview Road and Walkley Bank Road |
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| Woodview Road in 1998 |
Stoney Walk is an adopted highway, but the middle section of Woodview Road is not. As an unadopted highway, the council has no duty to maintain it. It would be the responsibility of the landowner to repair it.
Unfortunately, there is no tracable owner for the land this part of the road is on. If money was less tight, the council's highways authority could just walk in and 'forcibly' upgrade the road and adopt it. However, the council is forced to stick to the policy of only adopting made-up roads. Also, if the council made an exception for this road, it could open the floodgates to unscrupuless developers dumping an unmade road onto the council.
Several times the council has been about to put a footpath down. In recent years planning applications have been put in to develop the land to the north of Woodview Road. Even though this is not the land the road stands on, planning gain money would have been available to upgrade the track.
Each time a planning application is put in, the footpath is put on hold.
The most recent time, we at least managed to get Stoney Walk made up. The
old path had deteriorated to a sting of cobbles buried under grass and
mud. The picture show the path waiting for the light standards to be
replaced as the new path has left them right in the middle of the
footpath. Once the new lights are in place, the path can have its final
topcoat.
UPDATE: 1st November 2003:
The site to the north of Woodview Road, previously 87 Walkley Lane, is
currently being redeveloped for housing. As part of the planning
permission the developers had to make up Woodview Road to adoptable
standard and then hand it to the council for adoption. The road has just
been marked out for laying with full-width pavements on both sides.
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