FURTHER calls to keep a section of footpath in Hatfield open to the public have been made.

As reported in the WHT last week, a nature walk joining South Hatfield and Welham Green has been cut off after the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) put up signs claiming a section of the land was private property.

Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps teamed up with ward councillors Keith Pieri and David Hughes to call on the HCA to reopen the path to the public.

And now Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate Paul Zukowskyj has told the WHT about how he plans to get the pathway reclaimed.

Mr Zukowskyj has been working with concerned residents since December to protect the walk – which runs between Southfield roundabout in South Hatfield to Bunchley’s pond near Southfield School in Travellers Lane.

He has consulted a top UK lawyer who specialises in Rights of Way law, and believes he now has a strategy that will safeguard the footpath.

Mr Zukowskyj has asked Hertfordshire County Council to approach the HCA and ask it to dedicate the path as a permanent right of way.

If the HCA declines, or does not respond to the request by March 31, Mr Zukowskyj said he would 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.

Mr Zukowskyj said: “We’re determined to protect this path.

“We’re looking to get real action for residents, with deadlines and legal process to drive things forward.”