A section of historic public footpath taking walkers alongside the River Derwent near Portinscale looks likely to never be reinstated after being shut down for causing a safety risk.
A short section of riverside pathway by the old Keswick-Cockermouth railway bridge near How Lane and the A66 towards How Farm, started to come away in summer 2021.
It was closed to the public by the Lake District National Park Authority before the section collapsed entirely into the river.
The walkway, dating back at least 159 years, has seen walkers develop an alternative route past it, and the latest plan now is to seek to have the public footpath permanently diverted away from the collapsed area.
As a report to the national park by Nick Thorne, its senior rights of way officer, said: “There is now no way of using the definitive line of footpath.”
The proposal for a footpath diversion order looks set to go before the park’s rights of way committee later this month and should breeze through the process unless there are objections. If there are significant objections, the matter could result in a costly public inquiry and going to the Secretary of State for decision.
The national park has said it had considered rebuilding the affected area but that was regarded as “challenging, expensive and unfeasible”.
It would mean building a brand new structure in the river, which would require special consent and still be prone to erosion, a report said.
Another option was to create a “flying walkway” above the water to avoid going into the riverbed.
That too has been ruled out as it could cost in the region of £30,000 and could end up in the walkway “catching” debris and causing a blockage if the river levels rose, according to national park officials.
Instead, the plan is an official diversion of the right of way to divert walkers away from the area to a “flatter and more convenient” pathway for walkers, who have been using it since the area was closed off.
However, that diversion involves the consent of two affected land owners – one of which agrees with the idea, and the other who wants the LDNPA to consider rebuilding or creating the flying walkway.
The landowner said they were not being “difficult” but the point was that the problem “was not of our making” and that the collapsed section had not been maintained. They also faced increased liability for people passing over their land, according to a report.
The national park’s next steps will be discussed at a meeting on January 25, with LDNPA rangers in agreement that the pathway is diverted.
