A SALCOMBE resident has spoken out about the closure of a historic right of way in the town. Jim Martins attended a meeting of the town council on Wednesday, May 28, to share his concerns about the closure of an access to the foreshore. The path, which runs from Cliff Road opposite Bakerswell cottages to a small cove, was blocked off earlier in the year with a padlock on the existing gate. One of the owners of the land over which the path runs, Dr Susan Blackmore, says that they have closed off the access for safety reasons, after the winter storms made it unsafe. However, concerned locals say that the path has been a public right of way for many years, although it is not currently included in Devon County Council's 'definitive map' of adopted public rights of way. The inlet was a historic landing for the ferry from Small's Cove, and has been used by local people along with the access path ever since. Mr Martins said: 'Access to and from the foreshore is a really important thing. From Whitestrand down, there are so many little access points that have been closed off. 'This path has historically been used by local people. It's just a shame that when they did the definitive plan they didn't put these things in.' The path, which until its closure was the only public access to the foreshore between the Ferry steps and North Sands, was sold into private ownership by South Hams Council in 2004, and purchased by Dr Blackmore and two others. She said: 'When we bought the land we took a lot of advice, because we didn't want to have responsibility for what happened to people on the footpath, but we did want to keep it open.There is a grey area around who is responsible if people are hurt on the footpath.' Salcombe resident Alan Digney expressed concerns at the time of the sale. He said: 'What bothered me was that, under case law, the council should have been responsible for the right of way. But when it was sold, they weren't prepared to agree that it was their responsibility, so in the end a right of way wasn't mentioned in the sale.' Dr Blackmore continued: 'Ever since I was a kid, people have been able to go down there, and ever since we bought it the gate has always been left open. But since the storms in February this year a great lump of rock has fallen off, and a part of the path is literally hanging over thin air. 'The plan is to repair it, but it will cost a lot and we are just working out what to do.Because the path is not adopted by DCC, the financial burden of repairing the path, and maintaining it, rests with the owners of the land. Dr Blackmore added that she is very keen to find a solution to the problem that restores access for the public, and would like anyone who can help to contact her. According to DCC, Salcombe Town Council applied to have the path added to the definitive map in 2007, but this was refused as Salcombe's rights of way were not then under review. A DCC spokesman said: 'A schedule 14 application for a public footpath was made by the town council in 2007, after the county council had completed the definitive map review in Salcombe. 'The county policy is to complete the review of the definitive map on a district basis before returning to a parish which has already been part of that process, in order to ensure fairness to all parishes.' The spokesman also said that local people may wish to consider using the 'Community Paths: A 10 Step Guide to Improving Rights of Way' guide to negotiate permissive access with the landowner, rather than waiting for the more formal process to return to Salcombe in around 3 years' time. The guide can be found at http://www.devon.gov.uk/communitypaths.pdf">www.devon.gov.uk/communitypaths.pdf.