Councils keeping paths open after the storms
Jan
05
After the storms of the past few days, we're out clearing fallen trees from paths.
We've had a stormy few days with overnight wind on the 4th January consistently over 30mph (50kmh) and it's also been very gusty. A few branches and trees have fallen across the 1370 miles (2200 km) of paths in our area.
Generally, if a tree has fallen across a path, it's the landowner's responsiblity to clear up and make sure that the path is clear. Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol City and South Gloucestershire Councils are responsible for making sure public rights of way in our area aren't obstructed, and we can tell the landowners to clear paths when we get a report. But, sometimes, as today, we go out ourselves and do some emergency clearance.
This is just part of our work on paths - we also carry out scheduled works to clear vegetation that grows on paths in the spring and summer, as well as repair the surfaces of paths, install new kissing gates, replace bridges, ensure paths are well signed and lots more.
If you find a tree that has fallen across a public right of way, you can use the 'report a problem' function on our interactive mapping system to let us know. To find out more about the work we do, read about the Councils' responsibilities.
And - you can still get out, freshen up and explore when the weather is dramatic - make sure you wrap up warm, stay dry, wear suitable footwear and watch your footing where it might be slippery. Take particular care if you are out after heavy rain beside swollen streams, rivers or when crossing fords.
You can find out more about the weather and what to wear in our introduction to getting out on paths. And we've also got some information about rivers, tides and flooding.