Decision details

RESOLVED that permission be granted to create an order to record the unprotected footpath as a Public Right of Way.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Transport and Infrastructure

Reason

It is a legal duty for all surveying authorities to make and maintain a Definitive Map and Statement for their area, to continually survey the area for possible Public Rights of Way, and to make Orders upon the discovery of evidence that a Public Right of Way has arisen from long use. Public Rights of Way can come into being for various legal reasons, however most commonly it is through statutory inference of dedication. In plain terms, if a path has been walked by the public uninterrupted for a period of 20 years, and the use has been without force, without deception and without having been granted a specific express permission from the landowner, then they acquire a right to pass and repass.