Efforts to reopen a closed road in Devonshire remain thwarted after seven years because of an argument over whether it is public or private property.

An impasse between the Ministry of Works and Engineering, the Department of Planning and the residents of Devon Spring Road has been unresolved since 2003.

The steep-climbing road was deemed unsafe because of a cliff face crumbling below it.

Residents say Government has insisted they pay to make the road safe again. They claim designs for anything short of a "great wall of Devonshire" have been rejected.

Any plan for improvement must first satisfy Works and Engineering before a Planning application can be lodged.

Mike Fox, whose property lies against the roadside cliff, said the site has been troublesome ever since he moved to the area in 1983.

"Every time a big truck went up you could see pieces of rock falling off. All kinds of trucks used to go up there and sometimes pieces would fall right into the parking lot," he said.

Government demanded from the start that he build a wall against the side of the road, Mr. Fox said.

"They [Government] keep telling me it's a private road but everybody uses it. It's not my property. They kept wanting me to submit a plan and get a wall put in. My response is, 'why should I have to pay?'"

Devon Spring Road is blocked with concrete barriers at its South Shore Road entrance and at the first sharp curve as the road climbs toward the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute (MWI).

Yesterday Government said it would remain closed until the Ministry of Works and Engineering approves a wall design drawn up by the people who use it.

"It's been a problem for us too," acknowledged Minister Derrick Burgess.

"Plans for the wall go to the Planning Department. Normally when they have a wall that needs engineering advice, they send it to us. If we're not satisfied, we send it back to Planning, who send it back to the architect."

He added: "I know we had [wall plans] again this year. We made our recommendations and it went back to Planning."

Area MP Bob Richards said Mr. Fox was "rightfully disgusted" at being held responsible for shoring up the side of Devon Spring Road.

He called Government's argument over the status of the road "an absurdity".

"How can you have a road that's an access to a public hospital be a private road? It is the access to the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. It used to be called St. Brendan's Road. The address of MWI is 44, Devon Spring Road. The whole issue is nonsense."

However, Mr. Richards said he saw no sense in arguing any further over who ought to pay for fixing the road.

He said he had taken over the design of a wall, with plans drawn up at his own expense by a licensed civil engineer.

"It's a plan for a wall over the cliff face, which is the offending feature."

Since 2008, he said, the plans have been turned down and resubmitted because Works and Engineering wants a bigger wall.

"We're not sure how we'd raise the money privately. But we're still stuck with it."

Devon Spring resident Gregory Dietz said: "It's not just my family but the whole road. Everybody up the hill is put out by the fact that if we want to go down to the shop we have to go all the way around and down Devon Spring Lane. And people on the next road are put out by it too, because it increases their traffic."

When this newspaper visited the area, one resident shrugged when asked if he minded the road being closed.

The resident summed it up as: "If something is there for long enough, I guess you get used to it. At least it's quiet without the traffic coming up, and kids can play."