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I am obliged to deal with a lot of hostility when defending my right to object to a Public Right of Way being claimed to go through my garden. I often wonder why it is that the same people, who criticise me, see absolutely no parallel with others who take great objection to the grass verges outside their boundary fences being driven over by vehicles trying to pass in a narrow lane. The verges of roads are part of ‘the…
Sunday 16th News of another case lost. A process which takes an indefinite number of years and ruins lives and livelihoods. It will be appealed and fought of course but one has to ask at what cost and I am not referring to money! Monday 17th Comment from a colleague “ ……… without a bottomless pit of cash it’s hard to win.” Tuesday 18th – 22nd Deafened by the sound of silence from Norfolk County Council.
Lately there has been a huge increase in claims by access groups all wanting a ‘bite of the cherry’. Trouble is they have difficulty in agreeing with each other! Ramblers protect the ‘rights’ of walkers, The British Horse Society think that horse riders should take precedence Cyclists demand that they should be catered for, motorbike riders think they are hard done by and 4×4 off-roaders want more Byways Open to All Traffic. They are all focused on claiming FOOTPATHS! Ramblers…
Contact http://www.myrow.co.uk and Intrusive Footpaths http://www.intrusivefootpaths.org.uk/help.html# Research. Find out everything about your ‘path’ and it’s history. Request copies of the Provisional, draft and final Definitive Map from your County Council. Pay reasonable fees for copies. Request copies of evidence (from your County Council) submitted with any modification order. Look at old maps. Many are available on https://maps.nls.uk/ Purchase The Blue Book. Available from Open Spaces Society, Henley – on Thames. Look at the Planning Inspectorate website.You will find advice on procedures and…
Sunday 9th The Norfolk County Council evidence ‘bundle’ has now been received by my advisor. I have a copy so now at least we are able to see just what NCC are basing their claim upon. So far, I can see no evidence which would bear any close scrutiny at a public enquiry. There is NO evidence of Adoption, dedication or maintenance. Monday 10th Public money should not be squandered because of the incompetence of Council employees who base their…
If you think that there is any possibility of your land being claimed either now or in the future as any kind of Public Right of Way then ACT NOW. Put up signs to make it quite clear that there is a ’lack of intention to dedicate’ The notice must be VISIBLE, LEGIBLE, OBVIOUS and clearly relate to the land it seeks to protect. If you do not do this you will be deemed to have ‘dedicated’ your land! A…
Dear Baroness Bakewell,I attended the Lords debate 2nd April 2019. (Appeal for extension of the cut off date for ancient historic rights of Way)I was wholly disappointed that those in a position, such as myself, were totally unrepresented at that gathering. It seems that ‘sympathy’ to volunteer ‘claimers’ of purportedly ‘lost’ rights of way is unanimously extended, whilst scant recognition is even acknowledged for those who are innocently blighted, out of the blue, with historic and ancient claims, having no…
The Surveying Authority is under a legal duty to keep its Definitive Map under “continuous review”. [This replaced the duty in the 1949 Act to review the map every 5 years.] 2. Schedule 14 of the WIldlife and Countryside Act lays down certain legal requirements of the Surveying Authority . 3. From the WCA Schedule 14 requirements it is unequivocal that an Application must be decided by the Surveying Authority “within 12 months”…. and not “as soon as is practicable.” Or…
It is a sobering thought that very little has changed in nearly 20years. The following is part of Lord Rothericks’ speech on November 7th 2000. “The amendments to Schedule 15 to the 1981 Act made by Amendment No. 161 reflect the fact that……… ….. the function of the Secretary of State is confined to resolving appeals on the accuracy of the recording by the public authority, not ruling on the correctness of a decision on whether a right of way…
Councils are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds investigating claims by ramblers for public footpaths to be officially recognised, despite many running on private property. The Government has introduced a 2026 cut off date to record historic routes which existed before official records began in 1949 with the aim of providing certainty to landowners, but the ensuing rush has had a knock-on effect for unsuspecting homeowners, particularly those buying properties in the country. The current unwieldy system has been criticised…