The ‘Tank Track’: a Helford Passage path heads to inquiry

A rough track above Helford Passage, cut for tanks in wartime and known by that name ever since, has spent years caught in a slow tug of war over one question: does the public have the right to walk it? In January that question finally gets its day in a hearing room in Penryn. Four of them, as it turns out.

Four days set aside in Penryn

A public inquiry into the footpath, formally Order ROW/3367861, will open at 10am on Tuesday 12 January 2027 at The Sennen Suite, Tremough Innovation Centre, University Campus Tremough, Penryn, TR10 9TA. It is scheduled to run for four days.

Anyone who wants to speak at the inquiry, or simply sit in, is asked to contact Mawnan Parish Council first. The council has said more detail will go up on its website nearer the time.

What the Tank Track actually is

The path in question runs through Tregarthen at Helford Passage, in the parish of Mawnan, linking the C15 road down to an existing route, Public Footpath 30. On the ground it is the strip of land locals have long called the Tank Track, a reminder of the military use that gave it both its surface and its name.

The order would add that stretch to the official map of public rights of way. Put simply, it is about whether a right to walk the track already exists in law, not about laying down a brand new path.

Years in the making

The case began with an application to Cornwall Council for a Definitive Map Modification Order, submitted on behalf of the Ramblers in 2021. Orders of this kind turn on evidence, old maps, documents and the accounts of people who have used a route over the years, rather than on whether a path would be convenient or popular. Questions of suitability, need or safety do not come into it.

Cornwall Council weighed that evidence and, in September 2024, decided the case was strong enough to make the order. Because the order drew objections that have not been withdrawn, the final say now passes to a government-appointed planning inspector, which is what brings everyone to Penryn in January.

How to have your say

The inquiry is open, and residents on any side of the argument can register to take part through the parish council. The order the council has made does not become final on its own. It stands or falls on whether the inspector confirms it, and that is not a decision anyone will reach in a single morning.