Good morning everyone

As I expect you all know the footpaths around various lakes in the area are under threat of closure, especially those at what most of us still call Keynes Country Park. To help prevent this happening our Parish Council, together with those at Ashton Keynes and Somerford Keynes, have applied to have all the footpaths we consider to be at risk to be adopted as Public Rights of Way (public footpaths to you and me). From bitter experience we know that such an exercise can take over ten years to complete, which is unacceptable. Currently the application for the Gloucestershire section is at Shire Hall waiting until "the future of Keynes Park lease is settled" before any action will be commenced. Again this is unacceptable.

Fortunately, at this week's Parish Council meeting at Somerford Keynes, District Councillor Clive Bennett and County Councillor Shaun Parsons announced that they have started a petition to attempt to get things moving. To get any reaction from Shire Hall, especially now that the cuts are being made, does need a really impressive number of names to go on that document so please can you all log on to the following site http://www.petitionbuzz.com/petitions/footpaths and lodge your vote NOW? We get only one chance to get this right otherwise these paths will be lost for ever!

Mike Stuart