Access to the Countryside

1
Access to the Countryside
2
References

• RIGHTS OF WAY a guide to law and practice John
  Riddall and John Trevelyan
• www.ramblers.org.uk
• www.countryside.gov.uk
• www.ca-mapping.co.uk
• www.ccw.gov.uk

3
Statistics

• 209,000 km footpath, bridleway and other tracks
  in England and Wales
• Annually in UK
• 750 million walking days
• 22 million horse riding days

4
Origin of Rights of Way

• Presumed dedication in common law
• Highway in use beyond memory
• Presumed dedication s31 HA80
• After 20 years use without interuption a highway
  is presumed dedicated for public right of way
  unless contrary intention exists
• By statute s26 HA80
• Creation agreement by local authorities

5
Rights of Way by Common Law

• Source of most footpaths, bridleways and
  carriageways

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Rights of Way by Statute

• National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act
  1949
• Introduced procedures to record public rights of
  way
• Made footpaths and bridleways maintainable at
  public expense
• Highways Act 1949
• Consolidated into Highways Act 1980
• Enforced a highway authoritys duty to maintain
  rights of way

7
Rights of Way by Statute

• Countryside Act 1968
• Updated definitive maps
• Gave cyclists right to use bridleways
• Required paths to be signposted
• Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
• Further changes to definitive map procedures
• Introduced legislation on grazing bulls on rights
  of way

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Rights of Way by Statute

• Rights of Way Act 1990
• Amended duties on ploughing rights of way
• New duties to prevent crop disturbance of rights
  of way
• Access to the Countryside Act 2000
• Introduced open access

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Rights of Way

• Footpath
• Bridleway
• Carriageway
• cycletrack ? motorways
• road
• street
• footway

• Road Used as Public Path (RUPP)
• Byway open to all traffic
• Green lane

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Footpath

• Right of way on foot only

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Bridleway

• Right of way on foot and horseback

12
Carriageway

• Includes
• cycletrack ? motorways
• road
• street
• footway
• Right of way on foot, on horseback and with a
  vehicle
• Cycleways cycle/foot
• Motorways some vehicle only

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Road Used as Public Path (RUPP)

• NPACA 49
• A way other than a footpath or bridleway
• Does it have vehicular rights?
• Gosling Committee 1968 recommended reclassifying
  into
• Unclassified road
• Bridleway
• Footpath
• Reclassification in progress

14
Byway open to all traffic

• A carriageway mainly used by walkers and those on
  horseback
• Open to vehicles as well

15
Green lane

• No legal meaning
• Physical description for unsurfaced track
• Can be footpath, bridleway or carraigeway
• May not have rights of way

16
Local Authorities

• Major council
• County, District, Unitary, Metropolitan
• County, Unitary and Metropolitan are Highway
  Authorities responsible for rights of way

17
Duties of Highway Authority

• Maintain rights of way
• Keep an up to date list of rights of way
• Protect rights of way and prevent obstruction
• Enforce restoration of ploughed or disturbed
  footpaths/bridleways
• Take action against unlawful disturbance of
  highway
• Enforce duty on occupier not to inconvenience
  users of rights of way
• Signpost and waymarking
• Prosecute misleading notices on rights of way

18
Definitive maps

• Required by statute
• List all known rights of way in a local authority
  area
• Public document

19
Access to the Countryside Act 2000

• In force since 30 January 2001
• http//www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/2
  0000037.htm
• Countryside Agency ENGLAND
• Countryside Council for Wales - WALES

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Access to the Countryside Act 2000

• a new right of public access to mountain, moor,
  heath, down and registered common land
• provision of effective safeguards to take account
  of the needs of landowners and managers and of
  other interests, including wildlife
• the right will not apply to developed land,
  gardens or to cultivated land

21
Access to the Countryside Act 2000

• the right will be subject to sensible
  restrictions to avoid activities which might
  cause harm or damage
• the right will not extend to cycling, horseriding
  or driving a vehicle

22
Access to the Countryside Act 2000

• landowners liability as occupiers will be
  reduced to a minimum
• provision for landowners to close access land or
  otherwise restrict access without needing
  permission for up to 28 days each year

23
Access to the Countryside Act 2000

• provision for further closures or restrictions to
  take account of the needs of conservation, land
  management, defence and national security, and
  safety
• provision for possible extension of the right of
  access to coastal land, but only after public
  consultation
• a power for landowners voluntarily to dedicate
  their land for access.

24
Maps
http//www.ca-mapping.co.uk/mapping/Default.htm ht
tp//www.ccw.gov.uk/mapping/index.cfm?langen
25
Trespass

• Trespass is the unlawful entry by one person onto
  land in the possession of another
• If a person accidentally wanders off a public
  right of way path onto another's land i.e. gets
  lost, he/she will be trespassing

26
Trespass

• It can be a defence in an action of trespass that
  a person strayed onto land not by his/her own
  actions e.g. if a horse bolted. This is not
  trespass and the person in control of the land
  cannot sue.
• Trespass must be voluntary.