RESIDENTS are being asked to help get a pathway re-opened to the public – after a Government agency rejected a call to turn it into a right of way.

This week, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) declined a request from Welwyn Hatfield Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful Paul Zukowskyj to dedicate a footpath between South Hatfield and Welham Green as a public right of way.

The route had been cut off after the HCA put up signs claiming a section of the land was private property.

But now Mr Zukowskyj is hoping to gather together enough residents to sign a written deposition saying they used the pathway between 1981 and 2001 – which would then legally make the path a public right of way.

In total, Mr Zukowskyj said 25 to 30 depositions should be enough to get the land made public.

Mr Zukowskyj said: “I was very disappointed that the HCA decided that they didn’t want to dedicate the pathway.

“But we’ve already got a number of people who are prepared to sign up to say they’ve used the pathway.

“We’re convinced we can get enough people to sign a deposition, and the more we can get, the more the merrier.”

For more information about the deposition, contact Mr Zukowskyj at p.m.zukowskyj@herts.ac.uk