PLANNERS have bizarrely blocked off a series of pedestrian-made paths at a Birmingham shopping centre, forcing pedestrians to walk down an access road.
Unofficial footpaths at Selly Oak Shopping Park in the West Midlands have been created by regular pedestrian use, with the grass having been worn into natural paths by frequent footfall.
With the paths providing access to the centre via a Sainsbury’s petrol station, the shortened route chops down journey times instead of walking along an access road and around a roundabout.
However, locals have now been left fuming after officials blocked off access to the petrol station with a large wooden fence and erected a wooden barrier across the paths themselves.
Official footpaths allowing pedestrian access to the shopping park appear to require pedestrians to walk along a ring road to gain access to a car park located just a stone’s throw from the road.
Pedestrians have therefore forged their own paths and travelled off the official walkway and up a small hill to their destination.
Planners appear to have objected to the public’s solution though, with images now showing the efficient but unofficial paths having been blocked off by the fences.
With the installation of the fencing, pedestrians are now forced again to walk an extra distance along a ring road to reach a destination just metres away.
Social media users have now asked for the paths to be developed, with staircases added, instead of blocking off the paths that appear to be in higher demand than the officially built option.
A post showing the new fencing was shared to social media yesterday with the caption: “Oh no, the pedestrians are trying to access this shopping car park without having to follow the entire access road – we must stop them.”
The post has since received over 1,100 comments and dozens of comments from Brits slamming the decision.
One user said: “It’s amazing how many car parks have abysmal pedestrian access. They design for the cars to go in and out but forget that for every car there is at least one person.”
Another added: “I stopped using a Tesco because they did this. The walk took an extra 800m.”
A third wrote: “I’m a firm believer that if you build a path and a path ‘appears’ through people finding a better path then you’ve put your path in the wrong place.
“Much better to build no path and wait for one to appear.”
Another replied: “Yes, we must stop pedestrians. Or they will just end up walking all over everyone.”
