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Warning: These articles were originally published as brief newspaper articles. The articles are not intended to be definitive advice on any particular set of circumstances. The authors and the firm of Nicholson Portnell accept no liability for any use of these articles. Specific legal advice should always be sought in all cases for any actual transactions or matters.
Highways And Byways - April 2008
John Robinson
There are various categories of Public Rights of Way (as opposed to private rights which are usually only available for use by those whose title documents grant such a right). These include:
• A carriageway — usually a metalled highway for use by all manner of vehicles.
• A bridleway - for use on horseback and on foot.
• A public footpath - this will be shown on the definitive map held by the County Council; such paths (as well as bridleways) are increasingly well signposted and clearly shown on the Explorer and
Landranger series of Ordnance Survey maps. A former category of “RUPP’s”(A road used as a public path) has now been abolished.
• A “BOAT” or a “Byway open to all traffic” — these are usually unmetalled but available for use by mechanically propelled vehicles as well as on foot and with animals.
• A Restricted Byway gives the public the right to pass on foot, on horseback and with non-mechanically propelled vehicles.
• A Cycle Path is specifically designated under The Cycle Tracks Act 1984.
• “Green lanes” are usually tracks running between defined boundaries and have no legal definition but have generally been used for many years and sometimes established by an 18th Century Enclosure Award. The extent of any legal right depends on the historical evidence in each case.
• Permissive paths are largely a recent innovation and arise where a landowner licenses the use of a path for public use on terms that can later be revoked.
• The “CRoW Act” — i.e. Countryside and Rights of Way Act - conferred what is loosely called the “right to roam” over designated areas of moor and heath and a probable extension to include coastal land.
These definitions and distinctions are not just of general interest to the walker, rider, 4x4driver etc. but also the landowner of even the smallest parcel of land who needs to be careful whether any existing rights have been established and that no new rights are being created inadvertently
The author of this article, John Robinson, retired at the end of 2009. If you need advice on any of the points raised above, follow this link.
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