Access Question - Scotland

W

WishfulThinker

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 January 2006
Messages
5,418
Location
Just up from that street on the right.....
Visit site
We have an estate near my parents which we used to ride through - it was a WB stud about 5+ years ago. They let the public used the roads and paths through the woods, had done since I can remember - as in like 1992 and beyond.

Now the estate has been sold and the noveau riche owner has put up gates and padlocked them shut. Local access officer has been informed - letter sent - Land owner promised to take them down, yadda yadda yadda - but never does. This also affects the livery yard that is on this estate.

Also, there is a main drive to this estate that was disused, but is a common access to about 5 houses off a main road. We used to ride a circular route up past my parents, down this long track, through a stream and then along this track and onto the main road. Now we cant as a local farmer has built his new house up by the existing 5, and has put up a gate and padlocked it and has confronted anyone who has tried to ride down there. Last was 2 girls and they were a tad upset. Big prob is that this is the father of folk I kinda know..... BUT this path was used by folk walking dogs and riding for again, as long as I remember.

My mate who is at the livery in the estate has said that the YO there is not keen to keep on about the access as well.............they have to live on the estate. But she feels that I should bring it up - as a new party and because I used to use those paths back in the day. But other than emailing the Access officer at the council - who is worse than useless. What else can I do?

I have looked on Ordnance survey maps and this track is marked out in grey, but no lines - what does that mean? Also the paths that we used to ride through are just marked out as clearings in the green. How do I prove that we have ridden down there before???
 
You're lucky your local Access Officer even sent out a letter in the first scenario - I contacted the one in Midlothian about a similar situation and he spent all his time argueing with me as to why the Act didn't apply and why he shouldn't contact the landowner. It was like banging your head against a brick wall. On further questioning of his position, I was told to provide evidence that the route in question was a right of way and to contact my neighbours to back me up. So yet another lowland track has been lost in Scotland, despite only being 8 miles from Edinburgh city Centre.

Unfortunately only your local authority has responsibility for enforcing the right of access and it depends on how good they are. There is a case on a similar topic, the Snowie case, and it found that there was a right of access which should be upheld, although in that case, there was a pre-existing right of way. The Midlothian access officer, who holds no relevant qualifications and is not dedicated to this issue, confused this with it being a ruling that there must always be a pre-existing right of way to create a right of access under the Act - clearly wrong, and, I believe, rather incompetent.

In the first situation, if access isn't opened, you would have to rely on your local authority taking legal action to prove the right of access in court. The second situation should have been pre-empted by your local authority at the planning stage and is unclear under the Act as it would now seem to involve access on the curtilage of a residential property. However if someone could again prove a pre-existing right of way, there might be some hope.

The answer to your question on how do we prove these paths were in use before is taking affadavit evidence, or perhaps just starting with a petition.
 
Ahh, KK. Well, I know the names of most of the folk who would have ridden along them. Question is whether they would be bothered! One wifey might as I think she is still very much involved in horsey stuff up here.

I Could try doing something on FB I guess and contacting folk??

This new guy in the estate is a twonk! He almost wiped me out the other day (I was in car) as he was doing almost 50 past the entrance to the stables. He believes that as he owns the house and majority of land he owns the roads (does he? I don't know 100%). He came down to complain a few weeks ago to the yard there and he wife got out of the car and was clad head to town in.............Leopard print, a la Doreen from Birds of a Feather!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top