The Boardwalk is currently closed
See photos below
The boardwalk between Trade Street and Fullers Lane in Woolton Hill is being replaced.
Over recent years East Woodhay Parish Council has been aware that the boardwalk (the first part installed 14 years ago), has started to rot with more and more boards needing to be replaced. This has meant that there have been increasing funds required to maintain it with over £5,500 being spent by the parish council in recent years.
Unfortunately, the supports to the boardwalk are now in a very bad way and it will soon become unsafe if nothing is done.
The boardwalk is well used by the community and without it, the footpath would not be walkable for most of the year because the ground is so wet. Walking along the footpath enables access to see a variety of flora and fauna including the wonderful native daffodils in springtime. Therefore, the parish council realised it would have to do something to replace the boardwalk.
To replace the whole boardwalk with reconstituted plastic (supports and boards) would be highly cost prohibitive. A more cost effective solution was recommended by the footpath specialists at Hampshire County Council. This utilises a more economic and practical solution of a mix of plastic for the supports and well-treated wood for the boards. The plastic supports help prevent rotting of the boards.
However, even this solution costs £70,000 for the material alone, way beyond the finances of the parish council. Therefore, the council decided it needed to obtain grants to enable the project to be funded. To demonstrate to grant providers the local commitment for the project, the council allocated £10,000 to the boardwalk replacement in this year’s budget. Using our good relationship with the footpath team at Hampshire County Council we worked with them to utilise our £10,000 to obtain a further £60,000 in grants. So, in total delivering the £70,000 required for the project.
The parish council are extremely grateful to Hampshire County Council who have provided not only £15,000 for the first part of the boardwalk but are also project managing the work using volunteers. They have also engaged with National Landscapes (previous name Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) who have obtained a grant of £45,000 from DEFRA for the remaining materials. Therefore, all the money has been obtained.
To undertake the work, it has been necessary to close the footpath, and it is expected that the work will last until around the end of May. It is difficult to know the exact date because weather and the varying number of volunteers.
The parish council are very grateful to all the volunteers who have been involved as without them this project would not be possible. The project has seen local volunteers and many coming from around Hampshire.
