The path area is used by 'occasional' dog walkers, probably repeat ones who stay close enough to it, such as where DD stayed (Reeds Drive). The line of houses where the back gardens adjoined the field. The rest of that street in general, talking something like 20 buildings, 4 in block? Other areas of Newtongrange not so much, far more places closer to hand to use than that field/paths. Park, waste ground, woodland and many more fields.
The same does not apply to Easthouses at all. Not counting for recent new builds next to the lane of that AB sighting. Two parks and complex, other fields, an expansive grass area (Off Lothian Drive) leading into the golf course/Abbey woods. Most residents would really be going out of their way to use the RDP area to walk their dogs on a daily basis. Not to say some don't but generally that would account for a small % of them.
So, it is as it is - Used by dog walkers who stay next to it (which consists of little) Used as a cut through like we see with LK going home, the boys on the moped the same. DD who used an entry point to gain further access into the golf course/Abbey woods. Others from his street would use Lady path and enter off the lane of the AB sighting if heading into the Abbey woods. [Name removed] with LM, joining two areas together. But to note here, on the Newbattle side there is nothing, not one single house next to that path entrance/exit. People going for long walks further afield, using it as part of the Esk Trail. It is not the busy thoroughfare applied.
Newbattle Road is over a mile long. It is split into three areas, Newtongrange, Newbattle and Eskbank. Newbattle is tiny in comparison to the others. It consists of the Abbey/grounds/small industrial estate. Church, scattered cottages and the estate LM stayed in, which sits in off the road. Not a lot of reasons at all for anyone using the RDP as a short cut to Newbattle. It would be very selectively used, depending on locality of residence, for anyone to be using it as a short cut to Eskbank/Dalkeith or vice versa?
An isolated path in relevance to proximity to anywhere. The nearest houses are beside the top half of the field, across the expanse of it, then nothing at all. So again, the reason for that ban, the isolated nature of the path. A girl who 'only' had reason to know of the path because of the boy she had began to go out with. Her sister was not brought up in the area. Neither attended the school. But scrape people do attempting to apply lies to a girl who was telling the truth. She knew of some path, assumed it was the Lady Path, had not used the RDP before, ever. Had absolutely no reason to lie not any reason to have been using that path.