Concerns have been raised about the loss of rural pathways used by ramblers and residents in South Gloucestershire.
Conservative councillor Roger Avenin has expressed his fears that “we won’t have any sort of original, rural footpaths left” due to house building in the area.
His comments at a meeting last week were prompted by a list of about 40 requests to divert or extinguish public rights of way, in a report from South Gloucestershire Council.
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The requests date back 10 years and many of them are still awaiting official certification from the local authority, the report shows.
Cllr Avenin, who represents Bradley Stoke South, spoke at a meeting of the council’s regulatory committee on Thursday (July 15).
He said: “A lot of those diversions are down new routes, new roads, new pavements, of new [housing development] sites being built. And there’s also one or two extinguishments as well.
“Is there no control over the number of footpaths we seem to be losing? At the current rate, we won’t have any sort of original, rural footpaths left in South Gloucestershire.
“Does anyone look at the overall numbers and say ‘enough’s enough, we can’t divert any more footpaths’?
“We’re losing a lot [but] we are meant to be getting out and about and exercising. If there’s no footpaths to walk down, or just roads, it’s not a very good situation.”
Cllr Paul Hughes, who sits on a sub-committee responsible for dealing with applications related to public rights of way, said he did not think South Gloucestershire was in danger of running out of rural pathways but that he would ensure the situation was monitored.
The Conservative member for Bitton and Oldland Common said officers worked “very, very hard” with developers to ensure that rural pathways are only diverted onto a pavement when necessary.
'A lot of paths left'
He added: “As for saying, in a minute we won’t have any rural paths left, I’m not quite sure that’s correct because 80 per cent of South Gloucestershire is rural.
"As I walk a lot of paths...I can assure you, there will be an awful lot of paths left."
However, Cllr Hughes added: “I do take on board what Roger’s said, and we will monitor and make sure that where we do get a diversion or extinguishment that this committee looks very, very hard and fast at that, and asks the appropriate questions.
“I do take this very, very seriously and we will make sure that we’re doing the right job for the public.
“It’s all about people getting outdoors and enjoying the countryside, so we’ll monitor it as we’re going along and make sure we’re doing a proper job.”
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