A PARISH councillor is on the lookout for a celebrity to fund improvements for a village footpath which could then be named in their honour.
Charles Higgie has been fighting for months to establish that the city council owns Leech Lane in Malpas, which serves as a route for elderly people to walk into the village from Craddock Court.
He has now succeeded and would like either the city council to pay for resurfacing - because the lane can be treacherous after a downpour - or find a wealthy individual willing to dig deep.
He said: 'I have made a suggestion that we get some celebrity to fund it and call it Michael Owen Lane or something of that nature.'
Cllr Higgie claimed the city council had misplaced priorities in reference to a scheme to tackle the growing pigeon population in Chester.
He added: 'I find it bizarre that they have spent £15,000 on pigeon loft but they cannot find £22,000 to resurface the lane. Where do their priorities lie?'
Anne Lancaster, manager of Chester City Council's South Cheshire Area Committee, clarified the ownership question in an e-mail to Cllr Higgie.
She wrote: 'This has taken some time to resolve as the Land Registry questioned whether we had sufficient title to the land. 'However, the position confirmed by our legal department is that Chester City Council does have title to the land ie we are the owners.'
Now ownership is affirmed, pressure will be brought to bear on the authority to bring the path up to a sufficient standard for the county council highways authority to inherit the long-term responsibility for its maintenance.
Cllr Higgie said: 'Some councillors and officers of the city council have been trying to avoid responsibility for it. Now it's come out the city council do own it, so they do have responsibility for it.'
The councillor said he tried to find out whether money might be available for improvements from an access fund for people with disabilities or from another pot for footpaths in housing estates. He said he sent e-mails to the city council in July, and reminders in September, but had still not received replies.
Debates have raged on Malpas Parish Council, with members such as parish and city councillor Keith Ebben wanting to drop the issue, believing the city council would never accept responsibility.
At a recent parish meeting, he suggested Cllr Higgie approach owners of adjacent properties to the lane to ask if they were willing to pay the cost of bringing the lane up to the required standard.
Cllr Higgie described the suggestion as 'outrageous'.
'I don't think there is any chance of the residents who surround Leech Lane coughing up for this. The city council should be paying for this,' he added.
At the last meeting it was agreed a questionnaire be devised which would be sent to the occupiers to ask what they would like to see happen.
The South Cheshire Area committee allocated £1,000 to undertake a design study on the lane to identify what work is needed. Members said the study did not give any information that was not already known.
Community leaders are generally on the war path over wanting access improvements in their village. Malpas Parish Council members are furious promised resurfacing work on the potholed High Street car park will not take place in the short-term after the cost rose to £5,000.
Not only have people been injured after stumbling into the potholes in the Chester City Council car park, but it is also an alternative route into the village instead of Leech Lane.
