Please could you provide the following information relating to Exmouth Footpath 1 (the section parallel the cliffs at the rear of the properties on Foxholes Hill):
1) The inspection records from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2024.
Exmouth Footpath 1, in part, is also the route for the South West Coast Path National Trail (SWCP) and so is inspected by a public rights of way warden on an annual basis. For the date range requested, warden inspections were carried out on 31 March 2021, 7 September 2022, and 3 August 2023. The section by Foxholes Hill is not the route of the SWCP, and so the routine inspection cycle is on a 3 year basis; however the path is checked annually at the same time as the sections that are part of the SWCP.
Information on the inspection process is available at Inspections and maintenance – Public Rights of Way. The path passed the inspection criteria on each of these visits, with no issues noted.
In addition to inspection as a public right of way, bound (tarmacked) sections of Exmouth Footpath 1 are inspected on a 3 yearly basis by a highways inspector. This includes the section by Foxholes Hill. The most recent inspection was 21 June 2024, and no defects were found. The previous inspection was in July 2021, with a defect of pothole (safety) noted on 26 July 2021.
2) The defect records from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2024.
Please see the Defects Report.
3) The record of all contacts/complaints relating to Exmouth Footpath 1 from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2024.
Please see the Enquiries Report for customer enquiries regarding the whole of Exmouth Footpath 1.
Some of the information in the document has been greyed out. This information is exempt from disclosure under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (Personal Data).
Devon County Council can confirm the requested information is held; however, the Council cannot disclose personal information if releasing it would contravene any of the provisions in the Data Protection Act 2018. In this instance release of this information would contravene the first data protection principle and therefore the information is withheld.
4) The criteria for footway inspections undertaken by Devon County Council as the Highway Authority.
Please see the following information on the Devon County Council website:
Highway Asset Management – Roads and transport
Highway Safety Policy vers 6.1 effective 1st January 2021 – Roads and transport
5) Based on the Code of Practice ‘Well-managed highway infrastructure’ provide the risk-based defect identification and repair criteria including how repairs are prioritised according to location, dimensions, perceived risk and repair timescales.
Details are included within the Safety Policy – as per the link above.
With regards to the Well-Managed Highway Infrastructure: A Code of Practice (October 2016) (NCoP), example extracts from the highway safety policy can be found at the following links: