SC23127 - Monkdown Woods Pathway Restoration

At Monkdown Woods, which adjoins the Bredhurst byway, there is a circular route of connecting bridleways, footpaths and paths by permission of the landowner. These routes are well used by horses and walkers and large areas are becoming increasingly un-passable over the winter months. Please see the mentioned routes in Appendix 1 - Monkdown Woods Map. The different paths are in various states of disrepair - with different areas requiring different treatments. For example, some areas have a hard surface over which organic matter has collected and become boggy, so in these areas the organic matter needs to be scraped away and carefully redistributed in the edges of the woodland; other areas completely lack integrity and there is no hard surface remaining, so there is a need for more organic matter removal and resurfacing with compacted Type 1 hardcore. There are also drainage issues which need to be resolved to prevent the worst areas from quickly re-flooding and eroding once more. Please note, not all of the area needs to be treated, but around 80% of the length requires some intervention, such as removal of organic matter. There are several areas where additional works to aid drainage would be helpful, we estimate that there are 5 areas where this is needed.