Manx footpaths neglected after budget cuts, civil servant says

Resources are "no longer available" to maintain public footpaths on the Isle of Man to a high standard, a senior civil servant has said.

A Tynwald committee heard budget cuts in the Department of Infrastructure (DOI) in 2010 had led to a lack of regular maintenance.

About £360,000 a year goes on managing the 249 mile (400km) network of paths.

Highways director Jeff Robinson said the DOI would "love to spend more" but funding was a "major weakness".

He made the comments while giving evidence to a parliamentary scrutiny committee investigating the possibility of the creation of a single footpaths agency.

It was set up after a petition by David Buttery, who said some public rights of way had become "dangerous", and split responsibility across government agencies led to inconsistent maintenance.

Mr Robinson told the committee revenue budgets for highways were slashed from about £12m in 2010, to £1.5m, directing maintenance work away from countryside areas and towards the island's roads.

"It is a difficult place we are in, and we would love to spend more", he added.

The DOI has statutory responsibility for looking after public rights of way, with a £360,000 annual budget for maintenance, £190,000 of which is spent on staffing a five-man team.

The committee heard a budget of about £710,000 would be need to keep the network in its current state.

Mr Robinson said most of the current spending went on "managing the deteriorating condition of the network" by responding to incidents like replacing bridges or dealing with land collapses.

He said he was "not sure" about the idea of a single government footpaths agency, as each department currently had "complimentary roles".

"Our major weakness is funding, if we had more funding we would have a better network," he added.

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