Newbury Town Council joins campaign to restore right of way to Marsh Lane

It follows the revelation that West Berkshire Council gave away both the freehold and public right of way to Marsh Lane, which provides access to Jack of Newbury’s house, to Standard Life Investments (SLI) for the development of Parkway in 2007.
The historic building is the former home of one of the town’s most famous residents, John Winchcombe.
The district council has claimed that at the time of the “stopping-up”, as it is referred to in council terms, a public consultation was conducted.
However, Newbury historian David Peacock claims that the permanent nature of the stopping up was not made clear and he considered it to be a temporary measure while construction was taking place, something which some Newbury town councillors agree with.
Both parties claim that the removal of public right of way was only brought to the public’s attention when TV presenter Michael Portillo and his TV crew were moved on when filming outside Jack of Newbury’s house for BBC Two prime time programme Great British Railway Journeys, on the grounds that they didn’t have permission from SLI to film there.
In January, West Berkshire Council received a letter from SLI stating that they had no intention of closing Marsh Lane to the public.
However, it would be in their power to do so if they wished.
The issue was most recently brought to the attention of the town council last week by Mr Pick (Con, St Johns), who was at the time town mayor, who has vowed to “never give up” on getting access restored to Marsh Lane.
He brought a motion to the council to support Dr Peacock in his campaign to see the right of way restored on the grounds that the permanent transfer of the title should not have been made without public consultation and that consultation for the removal of the public highway along Marsh Lane was inadequate.
All Lib Dem councillors supported Mr Pick’s motion, however Jeff Beck (Con, Clay Hill) opposed it and all other Conservative members abstained from the vote.
Tony Stretton (Con, Clay Hill) said: “As I see it at the moment, there are no restrictions on that road.
“West Berkshire Council has a letter to say that the road will remain open.
“If they closed it and there was restricted access I would then be unhappy and would look into it.”