A footpath to nowhere

A footpath to nowhere

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Byford resident Ron Holmes. Photograph – Richard Polden.

A passionate Byford resident along with 97 others who signed his petition for a dual use footpath on Linton and Shelley streets will have to sit tight for another couple of years after council voted this week to postpone the request.

Serpentine Jarrahdale councillors voted unanimously at Tuesday night’s ordinary council meeting to consider the construction of a dual use path in the 2019/20 annual budgeting process.

Ron Holmes has been living at his Linton Street home for the past 50 years and has always scratched his head at the absence of a footpath.

The petition he submitted to council back in July this year was part of a long-drawn out campaign, which first included a letter to council in 2013.

“I got a reply from the council back then that they may not have the funds to put in a footpath but they may be able to do it in 2017,” he said.

Mr Holmes then waited the suggested four-year period before calling and writing to the shire again in the hope of the footpath being constructed.

He then collected signatures from a number of residents in the local area who were in support of the footpath, which he said would assure residents were kept safe when walking along Linton Street to get to the nearby Byford and Districts Country Club and the Scout Hall.

Mr Holmes said he just hoped the road could be made safer for children and all families.

The report that was presented before council on Tuesday night said both Linton and Shelley streets presented less concern in terms of safety and amenity and therefore the roads were not on the critical scale for a dual use path at this point in time.