Our local council are about to add a Footpath by way of historic use despite the original claim being for a bridleway. There is evidence of walkers and cyclists but not horse riders.
Is cycling alone enough historic evidence to claim a path as a Bridleway?
The council here seem to think that it can only be a bridleway if horses use it.
Bike Forum
Claiming a Bridleway
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Posted 10 months ago #
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No idea, but really hope there are some lawyer types on here as a precedent could be set - would be bad if it went the wrong way.
Posted 10 months ago # -
I believe there was an article from a bobby on the web site a little while ago that said it's not technically illegal to cycle on a public footpath as long as it isn't a pavement by the side of a road, depending on the local authority. I have taken that as carte blanche around my local area, which is not national trust or anything where there are heavy traffic issues. If I'm wrong I'm there will be a helpful soul to correct me very soon.
Posted 10 months ago # -
I have no idea but I'd drop your local horse riding group an email, they may know what does and does not work. They might also have a word with the council and swing it your way.
Posted 10 months ago # -
Thanks for your help all.
I'll try the Byeway and Bridleway trust.
In any event i'll just argue that it's been used as a bridleway and therefore it is one and not mention horses.Posted 10 months ago # -
It depends really on how far along the application is at. I assume the original application was for the creation of a new BW, but your council when doing so found that there wasn't enough evidence for a BW, so only added it to the definitive map as a FP instead.
If so its too late to change it to a BW in the short term, but in theory you should be able to apply for an upgrade at a late date though. However if its still at the user-evidence stage then it may not too late to get other organisations involved. Ring up your PROW department to find out where they are with the application.
As for whether cycling alone is enough historic evidence to claim a path as a bridleway, the quick answer is not really.
The long answer though is maybe, insofar that it could depend on the path itself, and on how pro-biking your local council / LAF is, if your local ROWIP has specifically stated any future DMMO's / X per year creations / etc will be BW only, etc. See my article for more background info.
Posted 10 months ago # -
impression i have (and would be interested in schnors opinion) is that FP's are "easy" option for LA's why i say that is that finding non-foot users is harder so applications tend to come from local people or groups like the RA
?once designated a bridleway has some obligation for maintenance and that falls on the local authority - and to a much higher standard than a footpath, so if a footpath solve 98% of the issue why create a bridleway unless it is part of a development plan
another concern is that if you choose to take the "it looks like a bridleway and is probably an old road" approach and i can think of plenty local to me then application will attract the byways motorbike/4WD attention and that is a can of worms
Posted 10 months ago # -
Thanks for tyhe advice.
Schnor your article is very helpful.
Ta!Posted 10 months ago # -
Thanks muddy
antigee, you're right. If an upgrade to a BW (or the rarer creation of an entirely new BW) was proposed it would alarm the Ramblers and the nay-sayers would come out in force. A new FP on the other hand? They'd love it, and nobody would object, except maybe a landowner who would object in principle regardless of proposed status.
It comes down to who asks for the modification so it therefore depends on the LA's stance; if you or I were to ask for a creation / upgrade the LA would take a 'neutral' position (neither for or against, and merely process the paperwork as it were). Sometimes though it becomes incumbent upon a LA to process a particular number of upgrades / creations a year by way of the ROWIP, in which case the LA takes a 'pro' position, of course assuming extra funding is there – and like antigee says unless it's part of a bigger picture.
Sometimes someone asks for an upgrade / creation that in principle is sound, but to do so would create financial difficulties (which in theory shouldn't be a deciding factor), but most bases are covered so that such an order has to question if the proposed route is appropriate for the order, e.g. a BW upgrade makes sense in principle, but its current surface is unsuitable in some way. However orders can come with conditions (e.g. this upgrade will go ahead if the stiles are replaced with BW gates), but again, remember the surface has to be suitable for horses only, which is expensive, not bikes, at virtually no cost.
As such I couldn't say how many orders would be successful if they went ahead on the basis of use by bikes (not horses) as it's not how it's done. For this you'd need to go down the route of a Cycle Track order.
As for the "it looks like a bridleway and is probably an old road" question and the potential to attract inappropriate use by higher users, then that's always a potential problem, but it doesn't really influence the making of an order as it's based purely on facts; you can't say “no I'm not upgrading this to a BW as it'll attract scramblers / 4x4's”
Speaking of which, I'm seeing more often now for some reason BW's which actually benefit from the use of scramblers / 4x4's as the passage of them keeps vegetation growth down, tyres level off any flood damage / general debris, and if a tree falls across it they're pretty quick to remove it. My guess is the many moons of light use has means topsoil has been created, and recent heavier use means the ancient hard-standing which was made for pack horses / wagons / etc has been reached. Dunno.
I've never seen this with a FP though, so IMO the issue of surface is more of an importance than it currently has.
Posted 10 months ago # -
As for whether cycling alone is enough historic evidence to claim a path as a bridleway, the quick answer is not really.
In this age of obesity and the national health struggling to accomodate fatties, this is really poor.
Posted 10 months ago #
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