BRIGHTER PATH AHEAD

 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2025 

WALK THIS WAY

There should be a brighter path ahead after the government announced that they are planning to remove the 2031 cut-off date for recording historic rights of way.

There are thousands of miles of unrecorded right of way across England that are enjoyed by walkers, cyclists and equestrians.

In March 2024 the BBC found that around 8,000 requests for paths to be added to the official map were waiting to be processed, with cash strapped local authorities struggling to keep pace with the public’s clamour for them to be added to the official map. These paths and bridleways can now be retained but still need to be recorded.

Help is on hand from the Ramblers and the Open Spaces Society (OSS). The latter is Britain’s oldest national conservation body, whose Find Our Way fund can aid local groups to carry out research. This can be time consuming as it is complicated as you need maps and evidence from users of the highway and you must contact as many landowners as you can find before a claim can be made to the local authority. They will then investigate by walking the route and undertaking their own research. In the final case a public inquiry could be held.

Following the announcement of the intended removal of the 2013 cut-off date,  – the OSS is now hoping to persuade the government to make it compulsory for lost commons to be registerable throughout England.  Currently they can only be registered in Cumbria and North Yorkshire, yet, grossly unfairly, landowners can apply to deregister commons throughout England.

The Open Spaces Society is at www.oss.org.uk