A FOOTPATH deemed "unsuitable for public use" by Surrey County Council in April but used by dog-walkers and ramblers for centuries came under close scrutiny at a public inquiry this week. Held at the Surrey County Council offices in Guildford on Tuesday and Wednesday, the inquiry gave campaigners the chance to voice their views officially for the first time since the path's closure. Brook footpath, or Witley 139 as it appears on maps, was extinguished for being underused, overgrown, inhabited by rabbits and badgers and for being too dangerous - owing to its exit onto the busy A286, Haslemere Road. The footpath runs from the A286 to Church Lane and crosses the Rockwood Estate alongside Rockwood House. The current owners of the estate applied for the footpath to be closed last year, and signs were put up to gauge public opinion before closure was approved in April. Since then the council has faced a barrage of objections, leading to this week's inquiry. "Just because it hasn't been trampled down doesn't mean you have to get rid of it," explained Mervyn Harvey of the the Surrey Long Distance Walkers' Association. "To keep our walks interesting we like to use all of the footpaths available to us, but obviously they're not all going to be used at once. There are hundreds of rights of way in Surrey, and sometimes we literally have to wade through brambles and nettles, but we just accept it as how footpaths are during the summer - that's nature." Vanessa Rhode, one of the owners of the estate, said that she had never seen anyone use the path, despite the current owner of nearby Parsonage House claiming that he and his family used it every day. Ian Moore told the inquiry his family's dogs had been walked on the path for more than 30 years. "It's my wish that it remains for future enjoyment," he said. "It's our preferred route because there is shelter from the trees. We're quite used to people coming and wandering by our house and it really doesn't bother me." Appearing on the Rocque map of 1762, the kilometre-long footpath is older than Rockwood House, which lies beside it. Vanessa Rhode argued that the footpath was unnecessary and the exit onto the Haslemere Road was too dangerous. She is currently seeking planning permission to convert the redundant farm buildings on the Rockwood House site into residential accommodation. "A number of people have now come forward to assert that they use Footpath 139 on a regular basis, some as part of a circular walk," she said. "My response to this is that my own observations have never led me to believe that anyone was using this path as a public footpath, and that was certainly the position when we commenced our review and consultation exercise." She went on to label the path a "cul-de-sac," pointing out that it went "nowhere" and any attempt to use it as part of a circular walk would involve trespassing on Parsonage Farm. She also criticised comments from Witley Parish Council that the footpath was linked to other routes and that the landowners were seeking sole use of the track. She continued: "There has been no objection from the county council's rights-of- way officer since he does not regard this to adversely affect the public right of way." She added that anyone wishing to exit the footpath onto the A286 would be exposing themselves to "extreme risk of injury or death". Stephen Dale, chairman of the planning committee at Witley Parish Council, said that the proposed change to the "historic" footpath was not acceptable to the parish council because of a "piecemeal development" of the Rockwood Estate. "It would appear that the footpath is being changed purely for the convenience of the existing landowner," he said. "There is some justification for providing a different path as a connection to other routes where difficult access occurs on the A286, but this does not in itself justify the extinguishment of the existing path." The inquiry was continuing as The Herald went to press.