Let us pray - please help fix this stink

Walkers fed up with their favourite footpath being closed and regularly polluted by smelly effluent have been warned the re-opening will be delayed.

The Bere Ferrers path has been closed by Devon County Council since June for work to be completed on a leaking septic tank which is sited in the middle of the route.

A closure notice (dated June 5) says the closure runs until January 1 ‘for works to be completed’. In the meantime, the path, popular with dog and other walkers, is diverted along Station Road, and Fore Street instead of across a field high above the River Tavy.

It is understood the works referred to are the shutdown of the tank which will be rebuilt in the garden of the owner who lives nearby in Tavy Court. A recent leak has been investigated by the Environment Agency which declared the tank ‘viable’ and therefore, safe to continue to operate, said its owner. However, the smelly water remains running across the grass to one side of the path and down the sloping field.

Walkers and councillors says the issue of the septic tank overflowing and occasionally leaking across the path has been going on for many years. They are pleased to see that a start to the work is promised and that the tank is due to be removed and therefore, that the potential pollution problem will be sorted out finally.

The tank’s owner Emma Hampson has warned however, that the tank is unlikely to be moved by the January deadline and has apologised for the closure and delay. She blamed a faulty soak-away (an underground drainage system designed to collect excess surface water and slowly release it into the soil) for not coping with the latest overflow.

She said: “I know a lot of people are concerned and how long the path has been closed and for how long. I’m sorry it’s causing inconvenience to dog walkers and others. But I do have a contractor assigned to do the work to remove the tank and have one rebuilt in our garden.

“However, the contractor tells me the processes and permissions needed for them to go ahead will take several months. This includes getting planning permission from the borough council.

“I’m sorry to say I don’t expect the work to be started in January and more likely to be later next year.”

Walkers say the tank repeatedly leaks and although effluent clearance takes place, it flows over the field and sometime into a stream at the bottom of the field.

The field is owned by Exeter Diocese and rented to a farmer who looks after grazing cows. Emma said she had informed the diocese and Bere Ferrers Parish Council of her plan. The council did not want to comment.

Planning authorities are advised that whether permission is required for septic tank movements, depends on circumstances. The landowner or contractor is advised to seek advice from planners before any works.

A DCC spokesperson said: “Footpath 89 at Bere Ferrers has been temporarily closed at the request of West Devon Borough Council environmental health, allowing the owner to install a sewage treatment system. The closure will remain until January, or until the work is complete and safe.”