A BATTLE between a land owner and residents has kicked off after barbed wire fencing was erected along a popular footpath.
Angry homeowners claim the four feet high fencing topped with barbed wire has been put up by the owners of a former greenbelt site that runs alongside the path off Hall Road, in Handforth.
Residents and regular users of the path, who say it has been used by the public for nearly 20 years, claim the fencing is dangerous and illegal and have complained to Cheshire County Council and The Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Rob Acton, of Wadsworth Close, one of the homeowners who wants to see the barbed wire removed, said: "Barbed wire is stretched along the length of the footpath between the posts making this a safety hazard for the many pedestrians who use this path every day to walk to the shops.
"It is especially dangerous at night as the path isn’t lit."
Mr Acton also slammed Cheshire County Council for failing to take any action and have the fencing removed.
It is not the first time residents have clashed with the land owner.
Last year homeowners objected in their hundreds after the land owner tried to sell the site to developers Greystones, who had applied for planning permission for a care village on the site.
Mr Acton said: "The land in question is a valuable haven for wildlife and a recreational facility used by hundreds of local residents and is protected under the local plan until at least 2011, but after that who knows.
"Indeed it should be put back into green belt land for present and future generations to enjoy.
"This is one of the last green spaces in the area and we want to see it saved from the developers.
"We believe that the new fencing that has been put up is all tied in with this and that the landowners fenced off the site because public rights of way on the land can be established if people have been using it unhindered for more than 20 years."
Handforth Ratepayer Councillor Barry Burkhill, has been helping residents to fight to have the fence removed.
He said: "The barbed wire was looked at by someone from Cheshire County Council but it seems was not considered as dangerous.
"I am worried about this lack of action because I and the residents believe it is dangerous and a health and safety issue.
"The landowner has fenced off the land because public rights of way are established after 20 years unhindered usage.
Coun Burkhill added: "All this has come about because the land was removed from the green belt in the early 1980s by the Conservative ruling group at Macclesfield. This should never have happened and we opposed it.
"What should happen now is that the ruling Conservatives at Cheshire East must return it to green belt when the local plan is rolled forward as the Local Development Framework after 2011 and leave it as open land for recreation, wildlife and farming."
A spokesman from Cheshire County Council said: "We have visited the site and the barbed wire fence is three quarters of a metre away from the public right of way which is clearly defined and made of asphalt. The county council has satisfied itself there is no reasonable risk to path users."
