Cadent to fix Tanners Wood path 'driven over without permit'

The gas distribution company has ongoing works in Greenways, Hazelwood Lane, and Trowley Rise in Abbots Langley to replace old gas pipes with new plastic ones.

Greenways and Hazelwood Lane are connected by a footpath at the corner of Tanners Wood but vehicles have to go around Popes Road and Gallows Hill Lane, which takes two minutes by car according to Google Maps.

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Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Image: Three Rivers District Council)

An Abbots Langley dog walker was shocked to find the path torn up by what appears to have been an excavator on tracks and questioned whether the company had been given permission to use the route.

They contacted Three Rivers Council leader Stephen Giles-Medhurst who has confirmed that no such permission had been given and called for the “damaged areas” to be fixed on Thursday (October 10).

(Image: Stephen Giles-Medhurst)

He said: “Basically, they’ve used it as a shortcut between Hazelwood Lane and Trowley Rise rather than drive around - which is really just not acceptable.

“They don’t have permission.”

Cllr Giles-Medhurst says Three Rivers District Council did not receive any response from Cadent Gas until today (October 14), when the Watford Observer also received a statement confirming the area would be fixed.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but I’m pleased they are going to reinstate,” the Leavesden ward councillor added.

Cadent head of customer experience Eleanor Lewis said: “We are carrying out a mains replacement programme in and around Tanners Wood, Abbots Langley, to install tough new pipes which will last for decades, future proofing the local network and keeping thousands of homes warm.

(Image: Stephen Giles-Medhurst) “During the course of this work, we need to move equipment along the footpath, but we would like to reassure residents that the area will be fully cleared and reinstated once our works are complete.”

The end dates for the cluster of traffic control permits Cadent has for its works in the area are staggered. The work in Hazelwood Lane is set to conclude tomorrow and the Trowley Rise work is set to finish next Tuesday, October 22.

(Image: Stephen Giles-Medhurst)
(Image: Stephen Giles-Medhurst)