Councils count cost as walkers rush to record rights of way
COUNCILS are spending hundreds of thousands of pounds investigating claims by ramblers for public footpaths to officially be recognised.
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.
The move has been criticised by the CLA (the Country Land and Business Association), in particular that lost paths which have not been used for generations can be claimed on the basis of historic evidence.
Research by The Sunday Telegraph shows Essex County Council has spent £310,000 investigating claims over the last five years, and more than £40,000 defending its decisions. Cardiff Council has spent £228,000 on 38 claims in the last five years and £92,000 processing 23 orders, while South Gloucestershire Council said it has spent £36,641 investigating nine applications. Kent County Council estimates it is costing £32,000 a year. Monmouthshire County Council said it has 1,209 enforcement issues on record. Bedford Borough Council revealed it had received four claims of a right of way, which it spent £3,000 investigating, one of which led to a public inquiry costing £15,000 before being rejected by the secretary of state.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “Councils, who are facing an overall £5.8billion funding gap by 2020, have a responsibility to deal with and resolve disputes, of which determining who has right of way on a path is just one example.”
Some landowners claim walkers are using underhand methods to secure footpaths on the official maps, which often requires proof the land has been used by the public for the last 20 years.
But Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “If there’s a track on the ground and if people have been walking it there would be something to show from it. I think this is likely scaremongering.”
Defra intends to simplify the process through the Deregulation Act. A spokesman said: “We are working to implement the rights of way reforms package to make it easier for householders to divert rights of way without unduly affecting walkers’ enjoyment of the countryside.” THE risk of a pet being killed on the roads is an enduring fear for many cat owners – although if they keep them indoors they equally could become sedentary and obese.
Some cat owners have found a solution by building safe outdoor spaces called “catios”, a trend that started in the US but has swiftly spread.
Mark Hadley, who owns the company Wooden Art, which makes chicken runs and other outdoor wooden constructions, says that a dec- ade ago runs for cats made up around ten per cent of his business. Now, this has soared to 70 per cent.
Cat owners who reside in flats have built custom wire window-boxes for their cats to recline in the sun in, and people with bigger gardens commission elaborate enclosures for their beloved pets, with trees, climbing frames and specially-planted “cat gardens”, which attract bugs for them to hunt. Many include a bench, so people can sit in the sun with their feline friends.
Buying a catio in the UK will set you back around £500. However, some