There’s some good news and some not so good news about the footpaths in Sneyd Lane. Regular readers will know that Liberal Democrat Cllr Ian Shires and Focus Team Activist Carol Fletcher have been campaigning to get the footpaths and the road humps in the Lane reconstructed.

The good news is that Walsall Council begins work on the footpaths from Red Lane to Crab Lane. The not so good news is that at the time of writing there are no plans to reconstruct the road humps! “Carol and I have been lobbying both Walsall Council and Staffs County Council along with Essington’s Parish Cllr David Clifft for over two years to get the road and footpaths done along Sneyd Lane” said a furious Cllr Shires. “Earlier this year Staffs CC did their end of the Lane from Red Lane to the traffic lights at the junction with Bursnips Road and we were told that Walsall would follow suit by the third quarter of this year. There is clearly some doubt as to whether the road humps will get replaced!”

The work on the footpaths is due to start on 8th June and will take up to eight weeks. “It makes no sense not to replace the road humps at the same time as the footpaths” said Ian. “The Council will have to pay for traffic management (temporary traffic lights) whilst the footpaths work is being carried out, there’s no point in incurring a second charge later when the road humps are replaced as they will have to be at some time in the near future given that the current ones are falling apart and sections of the centre join in the tarmac are breaking up”

Ian and Carol are pressing Walsall Council to see sense and get on with both jobs!