CUMBERLAND councils highways boss has said she is 'extremely disappointed' following an appeal by United Utilities to the court 

Following Cumberland Council's Highways and Transport Strategic Board meeting held on Friday, November 10 where the permanent closure of the U7003 at Thirlmere was granted approval following a unanimous vote of the Executive Members of the board.

On Monday, November 14 Cumberland council received an appeal from United Utilities against the Section 151 notice.


While the council said it acknowledges the inconvenience caused to many road users by this closure, it emphasised its commitment to reopening the road once highlighted safety risks at Rough Crag have been addressed.

Councillor Denise Rollo, Cumberland Council’s Executive Member for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places, said: “I am extremely disappointed that we have received this appeal from United Utilities; this contradicts their statement that they want to work with us to reopen the U7003.

"Following the meeting on Friday, we were able to inform the public that we were making progress; however, our officers will now be spending their time preparing to go to Magistrates Court.”

Cumberland Council said the appeal from United Utilities against Section 151 notice,  does not necessarily reflect a genuine intent by them to reopen the road, in the councils view, they say this is contrary to the very positive message sent on Friday from the Chief Executive of United Utilities.

However, the water company have said they are still committed to the re-opening of the road, and have lodged the appeal due to the time frame they were given.

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “We remain fully committed to working collaboratively with the Council to allow Thirlmere West Road to be reopened as soon as possible and that position has not changed. 

"Unfortunately, we had no choice but to appeal the Council’s legal notice for works to be carried out within 28 days.  This is simply because it is not possible to gain the necessary permissions and complete the work by early next week, which is the legal timescale. 

“We held a very positive site meeting last week with Cumberland Council, Natural England, the Lake District National Park Authority and specialist engineers to agree the steps that would be needed and the permissions required for the road to be made safe enough for reopening, and to provide reassurance of our commitment to achieve this over the coming months.”   

The situation has caused upset among some in the community, with a protest being held outside of Allerdale House in Workington before the meeting last Friday.

Talking about the appeal, Mark Hatton of the Keep Thirlmere Open Campaign said: ""It would be good to think United Utilities and Cumberland Council could work together rather than spend time in a Magistrates Court lining the pockets of lawyers."