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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45672 Location: Essex
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Posted: Mon Mar 27, 06 9:44 am Post subject: Tricky footpath situation |
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Yesterday I noticed some people cutting across from one footpath to the other, about 300 mtrs away, I went and spoke to them asking whether they knew that they were not following the public footpath. One of the party replied "Yes, I've been walking this way for 30 years", I'd assume as a pre-emptive strike:
Ramblers wrote: |
In legal theory most paths become rights of way because the owner "dedicates" them to public use. In fact very few paths have been formally dedicated, but the law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time - set by statute at 20 years - then the owner had intended to dedicate it as a right of way.
A public path that has been unused for 20 years does not cease to be public (except in Scotland). The legal maxim is "once a highway, always a highway".
Paths can also be created by agreement between local authorities and owners or by compulsory order, subject, in the case of objection, to confirmation by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or the National Assembly for Wales. |
We had a long chat about what we're doing with the land etc, it turns out that he's a local councillor and wants to get someone from the Parish Council round to do a little piece for the newsletter.
I didn't raise the issue of the footpath, what should I do? Obviously a councillor saying that he's walked that way for 30 yrs will probably be useful for those wanting to get a new footpath between the two others.... |
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sally_in_wales Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005 Posts: 20809 Location: sunny wales
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45672 Location: Essex
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45672 Location: Essex
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Silas
Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 6848 Location: Staffordshire
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Posted: Mon Mar 27, 06 10:15 am Post subject: |
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cab wrote: |
sally_in_wales wrote: |
Footpath disputes always seem to get messy, I recall one footpath sign near my parents that had the official 'Public Footpath' bit then in very small letters added by the farmer 'if you can climb under the barbed wire fence...' Never pleasant, and in my opinion worth working with the locals if at all possible. |
I've certainly cut wires where someone had intentionally blocked off a footpath (mini toolkits are so useful, you know). As you say, these disputes can be really messy. |
You need to be a bit careful here. Firstly, you MUST make sure that you have a definitive footpath map, some OS are out of date. Second, ask yourself why it is blocked, if there is a crop and an alternative route has been offered, it is just bloody- mindedness not to take it. Thirdly, even if the footpath is blocked, it is not wise to damage the object that is blocking the path, even if it is just cutting through wires, you may be leaving yourself open to a charge of criminal damage ( and if you are wrong and the footpath map is out of date, criminal damage and trespass.) |
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cab
Joined: 01 Nov 2004 Posts: 32429
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Posted: Mon Mar 27, 06 10:21 am Post subject: |
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Silas wrote: |
You need to be a bit careful here. Firstly, you MUST make sure that you have a definitive footpath map, some OS are out of date. |
Yup, did that.
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Second, ask yourself why it is blocked, if there is a crop and an alternative route has been offered, it is just bloody- mindedness not to take it. |
Because that particular farmer was a git, there was a crop right there but only because he had ploughed the footpath, and there wasn't an alternative route that added less than a mile to the journey.
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Thirdly, even if the footpath is blocked, it is not wise to damage the object that is blocking the path, even if it is just cutting through wires, you may be leaving yourself open to a charge of criminal damage ( and if you are wrong and the footpath map is out of date, criminal damage and trespass.) |
Indeed, that's a risk. And I certainly don't advocate wandering around with wire cutters and cutting any dodgy bit of fence wire you see. But there comes a point when its either take legal action or just cut the damn wires.
I'm not putting this forward as a boast or as any kind of suggestion that doing that is always a good thing, merely pointing out that sometimes it'll happen. |
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mochyn
Joined: 21 Dec 2004 Posts: 24585 Location: mid-Wales
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Andy B
Joined: 12 Jan 2005 Posts: 3920 Location: Brum
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45672 Location: Essex
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dpack
Joined: 02 Jul 2005 Posts: 46220 Location: yes
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tahir
Joined: 28 Oct 2004 Posts: 45672 Location: Essex
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alison Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 29 Oct 2004 Posts: 12918 Location: North Devon
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