A COUNCIL leader has hailed the “tremendous” work carried out by a community group to create a new Greenway.
Back the Track is currently clearing the route of the former South Staffordshire Line between Lichfield and Chasewater while talks continue between Lichfield District Council and Network Rail to agree a lease.
Cllr Russ Bragger, Labour representative for Stowe ward, asked for a timeline for the project at a meeting of the local authority last week.
Lichfield District Council’s leader Cllr Doug Pullen said work was already taking place to prepare the Greenway route for walkers to be able to use.
“The work that Back the Track are doing has been tremendous in terms of clearing the disused line.
“We are almost at a point now where one would be able to walk down the line once the lease is secured.
“In terms of how long that then takes to get it to a point of removing the track or getting it entirely covered so you can call it a pathway, we simply don’t know. That is a multi-year project.
“If it’s anything to go by the previous section the same team has done, that has taken them six years or so.
“The way we’ve undertaken this work by the council doing the bit we can do in securing the lease then allowing the community group to crack on and do the work is the right way. It’s our community power strategy in action.
“Importantly, from March next year the public will have access once the lease is signed and the foliage is cleared.”
