Maura Pell: New Sector Coordinator for East Kent

Maura took on this vital role during the summer and here she introduces herself, her background and her aspirations for the future.

I have lived in East Kent for 25 years and I think I fell in love with the footpaths the moment I got here. My working life initially as a radiographer and subsequently Hospital Director was in the London Teaching Hospitals. Then, cutting a very long story short, I was a victim in a serious crime which I never really got over and this coincided with my husband and me moving to Kent. I was deeply stressed but I happened to inherit a couple of golden retrievers and it was stomping round the Kent footpaths that finally brought me closure and healing. I cannot overemphasise how important those walks were to me and as it dawned footpaths were beginning to close/disappear I became determined to do something about it and, casting around for a charity that might help, I found the Ramblers.

I joined, as I think a lot of folks do, not because I wanted to go on walks but purely to help maintain the footpaths. I think I have been a member for 20 years but I guess it was about 15 years ago that I answered an ad to become a Ramblers' Parish Footpath Observer (PFO) for my parish of Minster-in-Thanet. I loved it and felt so important walking round and checking out my beloved paths. So as more adjacent parishes needed PFOs I volunteered gladly to cover these too. I think for the last 12 years I have covered about 15 parishes and did a bit of Local Footpath Officer (LFO) duty along the way too.

Like every PFO, I got deeply frustrated when so many of the problems I had reported were not being resolved so I started to develop strategies to fix things other than by reporting issues to KCC and I think I have had a modest degree of success. My proudest achievement was last year when I finally persuaded KCC to clear what was a very ancient path adjacent to a field where folks had been walking along the field and were deeply upset when the farmer blocked off the field. It was by research and persistence that I managed to get that path cleared and now our villagers love it.

Early on I met Roger King who was the East Kent Sector coordinator before I took the reins. Our parishes were close together and to our mutual delight (we are both total footpath nerds), took many walks together discussing PRoW problems and so I was probably much more aware of what was going on in the sector than might be usual for a PFO. When Roger very sadly due to health reasons decided he wanted to retire, I just knew all that skill and knowledge could not be lost so I stepped on in there and then and with Roger's mentoring I began my journey as the new Sector Coordinator.

Firstly I would like to thank so many of our senior Ramblers, at Area and Group level, who have been so supportive. As have all the Local Footpath Officers (LFOs). For those reading this who may not know it, the LFOs really are the unsung heroes of our organisation. Each parish has a Parish Footpath Observer (PFO) and they walk round and check the footpaths in their patch, reporting problems on the KCC website. Local Footpath Officers (LFOs) are usually responsible for groups of about 10 to 12 parishes and while they coordinate with the PFOs their primary responsibility is to scrutinise proposals to close and divert paths and look at major planning applications that affect rights of way. At the moment in East Kent we have LFOs working on PRoW impacts of planning applications for a 4000 housing development in Canterbury, the enormous solar farms in Aldington, the Inland Border Facility at Sevington, a potential new airfield at Little Mongeham and the list goes on.

I guess the biggest priority in my new role will be to recruit more footpath volunteers. The PFO roles probably suit more active folks but the LFO role is a brilliant way of being involved while not necessarily having to walk miles. I am also particularly anxious to offer good support to locations that perhaps do not have such strong group support. My final priority and perhaps most important one is to ensure that we, as an organisation, support all those LFOs and PFOs who work so hard on the PRoWs. You are all doing a wonderful job and hopefully the future will bring us ever more imaginative solutions to our PRoW problems as we develop ever more creative strategies for making the beloved footpaths better for everyone.