Residents sign petition to save a 60-year Ponteland footpath
The path between Ladywell Way and Kirkley Drive has connected the Ponteland community for generations. Now Advance Northumberland is selling the land and residents are concerned.
Cllr Kevin Robertson-Hanlon, Town Councillor for Ponteland North, had Eighty-two people sign a petition to protect the footpath in its first 24 hours. This was launched on Friday 14th Aug and by the time you read this, that number will be higher.
The route is used, every day, by families walking children to school, older residents visiting family, dog walkers, and anyone cutting between the two areas on foot.
A path older than the estate it serves
This is not a recently worn track. According to local residents with detailed knowledge of the area, the route has been a public right of way since before the Ladywell estate was built around 1962. It was originally a bridlepath, a route for horses as well as people, predating the surrounding housing by decades.
That matters for two reasons. First, it means the path carries a legal status under public rights of way legislation that cannot simply be removed because a landowner finds it inconvenient. Second, it means generations of Ponteland residents have grown up walking it, and it is woven into how this part of the town moves.
What is being sold, and who is selling it
The land is being sold by Advance Northumberland, Northumberland County Council's development company, through Newcastle agents GFW. According to local Town Cllr Kevin Robertson-Hanlon, Northumberland County Council has indicated it would have no objection to a single residential development on the plot.
The site is listed on the property market as approximately 0.25 acres, described in the sales particulars as "land to the north west of 53 to 59 Kirkley Drive." Unconditional offers are invited by 1pm on 8 October 2026.
The sales particulars confirm Northumberland County Council responded to a pre-application enquiry, reference 26/00237/PREAPP, on 12 June 2026, advising that the principle of residential development on the land "may be acceptable" and that a single dwelling would fit the settlement boundary and spatial strategy for Ponteland.
Significantly, the sales particulars state plainly: "There is a PROW to the east of the Site." The existence of the footpath is not in dispute. What happens to it is the question.
The Darras Index has confirmed this independently. The route is formally listed on Northumberland County Council's public rights of way map as Public Footpath No. 70 in the Parish of Ponteland, KEYID 419/070, giving it full legal protection as a public highway. (see image above).
A transparency concern residents are raising
One detail has not gone unnoticed. Residents say the pre-application enquiry, in which the council privately assessed whether housing on this land would be acceptable, was completed before the land was publicly advertised for sale. One local resident raised this in a community forum, saying neighbours had previously been told this kind of pre-application work should not happen ahead of public advertising, for reasons of transparency.
We attempted to view the pre-application record on Northumberland County Council's public planning portal. It is no longer available for viewing.
Cllr Robertson-Hanlon said: "The Council has an opportunity to listen now, before we get any further down this road."
What we found when we visited
On Sunday 16th August 2026, we walked the route ourselves.
The footpath remains passable, but the condition of the site tells a different story. Several of the garages and outbuildings on the land show significant fire damage, with blackened walls and collapsed roofing visible from the path. The site has not been maintained.
This land is owned by Advance Northumberland. Residents who own garages on or adjacent to the site say they have been trying to engage with Advance Northumberland about it for over a year, and have found the organisation unwilling to enter discussions. One resident described the experience as "downright unpleasant.", however, another local had said that they believe all but one garage owner have passed which is why the garages are in such disrepair.
This site has been here before
The land is not without planning history. A local architect familiar with the site has said publicly that he designed a small cul-de-sac of family homes on this exact plot for ISOS Housing Association, now Karbon Homes, some years ago. That scheme fell through due to ownership of the garages not being able to be proved.
The site is being marketed again. The question is whether a developer will get further this time.
What happens to the footpath if planning goes ahead
Under planning law, when planning permission is granted, a developer may apply to divert or extinguish a public right of way where this is judged necessary to enable the development to proceed. This is a formal legal process with a right to public consultation. It is not automatic, and it is not guaranteed to succeed so it’s important for you to have your say now. The diversion point is interesting as in December of last year an additional notice was posted in that specific location by NCC.
Its a little bit difficult to read as the crops have partially engulfed it but to paraphrase it’s a notice from Northumberland County Council confirming that an application has been made to lodge a landowner statement, combining a Section 31(6) Highways Act 1980 deposit and a Section 15A(1) Commons Act 2006 deposit, for a specific parcel of land. As covered earlier, this is the mechanism landowners use to formally acknowledge which paths across their land they accept as existing rights of way, while protecting themselves against new rights of way or village-green claims arising from public use. So this potentially prevents a diversion of the footpath into the fields behind.
If the path is registered on Northumberland County Council's adopted public rights of way maps, any application to close or divert it must go through that process, and residents will have the opportunity to object. But that process only begins once planning permission is in place, which is why the pre-application stage matters now.
The voices behind the signatures
The petition is not abstract. Real journeys are at stake.
One parent said: "We have three children and we use this passage daily as a way to get to school. With the state of West Road, it's not safe to walk along in the morning or evening with the kids."
Another resident said: "My dad is 86. He would not be able to visit family as easily as he does now."
Cllr Robertson-Hanlon said: "82 signatures in 24 hours is a powerful response. People from right across Ponteland are telling us this path matters to them. This is about children getting to school safely, older people staying connected and residents being able to walk around their own community without being pushed onto busy roads."
What residents can do
Some residents have already proposed a community solution. If neighbours with adjacent gardens were to club together to purchase the land before a developer does, the footpath could be protected while the site is brought back into a usable state. With the 8 October deadline for offers approaching, time to explore that option is short.
In the meantime, Cllr Robertson-Hanlon is gathering evidence through his petition to take directly to the town and county councils.
If you use this route, or would be affected by its loss, add your voice now.
Sign the petition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQVlwi7BzLIrf50uWBgVKJwet28vH5nKa3r6AaKPy3iAzQRQ/viewform
The Darras Index is a community directory for Ponteland and the NE20 villages. If you have further information about this story, contact us at info@darrasindex.co.uk.
Sources
- Press release, Cllr Kevin Robertson-Hanlon, Town Councillor for Ponteland North, August 2026
- Commercial property sales particulars, land to the north west of 53 to 59 Kirkley Drive, Ponteland, GFW, August 2026
- Rightmove listing, plot for sale, Kirkley Drive, Ponteland, NE20
- Northumberland County Council pre-application response, reference 26/00237/PREAPP, dated 12 June 2026 (via the sales particulars; the pre-application record is no longer viewable on the council's public planning portal)
- Northumberland County Council Public Rights of Way map, Footpath No. 70, Parish of Ponteland (KEYID 419/070)
- Resident petition, Ladywell Way / Kirkley Drive footpath, launched by Cllr Robertson-Hanlon
- Community comments, Ponteland community Facebook group, August 2026
- Household and property data, Ladywell Way and Kirkley Drive, Land Registry / StreetCheck
- Site visit, The Darras Index, Sunday 17 August 2026