Advice needed - Is it possible to get a footpath changed to a bridlepath?

dollymix

dollymix

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Hi all – just hoping there is a knowledgeable bridleways person on here who may be able to offer some advice.

I keep my horses in a really beautiful area, which is on the edge of a AONB and is very scenic. Unfortunately, we are not blessed with bridleways! Although there are a few, they do not really link up so to get a hack which has a reasonable amount of off-road riding, you end up riding for a couple of hours, most of which is on the lanes between the bridleways.
Traffic is not great because as well as the large farm traffic (obviously inevitable in the country) we also get a lot of tourist/day-tripper type traffic when means the lanes are very busy and not really a pleasure to ride.

However, the area is criss-crossed with footpaths. A friend who is an active dog walker has identified one route in particular which would be perfect of a bridleway as with the exception of one field, it is all hardcore tracks through the fields and woodland.

Has anyone successful campaigned to get access changed from footpath to bridlepath?
Obviously, we would want to do this without annoying any farmers (I can imagine there will be a fair few who comment on this thread about horses and expecting access!). But it would be so nice to have more off-road riding, and I am sure the local community would prefer horses were not on the roads as much too.

We even discussed the proposal of a ‘toll ride’ and even all the local riding community pooling money to help the farm change the gates to horse friendly gates (instead of styles) - my friend reckons there is only two on the route she thinks would be good.

I know that the BHS would be the perfect place to ask for help, but wondered if anyone else had managed to achieve this, before I contact them.

Maybe I am chasing a dream, but if anyone can offer any advice, we would be really grateful.
 
I don't know the answer (sorry) but it will be interesting to see what suggestions people come up with!

You could try the local authority Access Officer (or similar title) - most county councils have someone responsible for footpaths and bridleways and I've always found them very helpful! Alternatively, you could try phoning the local BHS as they are often already campainging to increase the number of bridleways for safer hacking!

Just a couple of thoughts - good luck!
 
I am sure the farmer would be much more willing to have a toll ride in place rather than an enforced bridleway, personally I would approach the landowner with a plan so he can see what he will get out of it (he is running a business).
 
I think you have to find your BHS access officer. It can be done but takes a while. There is a guy called Peter Natt on here who might comment, he posted an interesting thing about the BHS wanting to make all paths one class, wouldn't that be amazing!

I like the sound of your proactive approach, giving people an incentive helps otherwise its like 'can we ride on your land?' 'why?' 'its dangerous on the road' 'so?' Haha farmers aren't always very sympathetic!
 
You are able to contact your council's PROW officer and propose a change of status. They will have to consult the landowner and I think also stick notices up.

You will then likely get the landowner object because honestly who wants horses churning up ground as well as walkers, and the walkers will almost cetainly object as they dislike footpaths being upgraded to bridleways as it is much more difficult for them to walk churned up paths.
 
Definitely contact the Local Council, and see what their attitude to creating new routes is.
Also contact your local councillor and have as much support as you can get from local riders.

The Cross Trails Trust can give you advice on how to get footpaths upgraded to bridlepaths, they have produced a book of how to do it.

http://www.thetrailstrust.org.uk/
 
Some excellent advice above.
The best first step is to check old maps to see if the paths were downgraded from bridleways/green lanes etc, probably in the 1970s. If they were you would have a stronger argument with your local council.
 
We've done a couple of routes (gravel droves) round our way from footpath to bridleway, all via agreement with landowenrs and Creation agreements.

We spoke informally with landowners first to see if they were agreeable in principle which they were and asked for permission to pass their details onto the county council's rights of way people.

Then we went to our county council's rights of way dept, informed them of what we'd agreed to do, gave them the landowners' details and then kept in touch with the county council as they progressed the forms and the legal process. It didn't take long, maybe a couple of months. We had the parish council and district and county councillors informed and on our side too, able to write emails of support for the initiative to the county council's rights of way dept.

In this sort of situation it's a good idea to know your rights of way well, to get people on board early on too.

Things you'll likely come across are:

1. Misunderstanding of what bridleway is. Some landowners think it means cars/motorbikes as they are confusing it with byway.

Public footpath = walkers only
Public bridleway = riders, cyclists, walkers only. Installation of motorcycle stiles (u-shaped gates or sleeper boxes for riders/cyclists to step over) if motorcycles likely in the area.
Public byway = all types of traffic, motorised, on foot, on horse, on cycle.

2. Refusal to upgrade to public bridleway but happy to have horseriders permissively use it, or to have SOME horseriders permissively use it. (You may need to collate a list, etc).

3. Refusal on grounds of hoof-poaching. If the ground is boggy, investment in drainage, roadplanings, or "Riders keep left, walkers keep right" signage are possible solutions.

Hunts can give riders a bad reputation in this respect as they gallop over land (ok with permission) in the worst weather/ground conditions and so can leave badly poached land which local people then assume local riders are causing. We used to have this problem with our one-and-only canter grass strip. All year local riders would protect it, only cantering if conditions were ok, and then twice a winter the hunt would gallop through and ruin it for everyone. Doesn't happen since new landowners who banned the hunt.

You might have the opposite in your area, where the hunt are extremely well-established and accepted within the local community with excellent relations with everyone, and where the hunt is based locally, in which case a good way forward would be via the hunt staff, ask them about riding opportunities.
 
First of all, approach the Public Rights of Way department [PROW] of the local Council which covers the area of the current footpath.

They will give you good advice as to whether it is an attainable goal, and, if they come on board they will be enormously helpful.

By all means involve BHS, but do tell the Council first. Otherwise you may cause prickles!

It's also worth approaching the Parish Council(s) involved. It/they will probably have a designated Rights of Way person who will cover all public routes.

In our area we did get a footpath (which had originally been a bridleway) reinstated, but it took about 8 years and ultimately involved a public enquiry , legal representation and so on, which costs an arm and a leg. (We did win). And, of course, contact your local bridleways group! Good luck
 
It would also be worth approaching any local cycling groups as a joint approach is more likely to be successful. The CTC is the cycling equivalent of the BHS and also campaigns for more off road routes.
 
Yes it is . I worked in Rights of Way.

Basically you either need to convince the Landowner and get permission from them

Or

Can you prove it used to be a bridle way ? Historical evidence , use of the path for a good 15-20 years without challenge from landowner are good ones .
If you can find lots of old maps . Local record office will hold these .

Another good thing to do is ask landowner to make it permissive meaning you can use it when ever but he will have the right to take it away at any time .. He may prefer this option though !

If you need any more info please PM me
 
dollymix said:
Ooh pearlsasinger how do you check old maps?? Are they stored with the local authority?
Click to expand...

Yes you can go and look at them in the archives usually at the county council HQ.
if its a toll ride which sounds a more amenable solution could the landowner at some stage change their mind?
Or if you can get enough support, evidence ie if it was used previously get some declarations from some old timers who remember it was once ie road/lane etc used by horses in past.

Plus its called a modification order. Your council can get you the forms they are available on line.
 
Wow thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions! It really is encouraging to hear from a few people who think this might be possible.

I have just emailed my local BW group (thanks Oberon :) ) to seek advice. I actually know who the local Council Access officer is, having worked with him in the past to get a BW repaired. He was really very helpful, however, I know that in recent years, funding has been severely cut and I am guessing there won't be the money there once was to help. I suppose I could send him an email to see if he is open to meeting with us to discuss?

It's fairly encouraring in my area that a permissive BW has been opened and I know there was talks to open another (think it was held up by one farmer who wasn't keen). However, this new permissive BW is across the boggiest, most sarshy land you have ever seen!! One of the liveries tried it and she said it is above knee deep in places. Do landowners get some sort of subsidy to put access across their land? the BW is signposted and has nice new BW gates, but really, it is not what you'd call passable. I know I sound really ungrateful....any access is fantastic, but I seriously doubt many riders will ever use it as it is so deep and muddy (according to above mentioned livery!)

The land we have our eyes on is a hardcore farm track which forms a route round the outskirts of a village. It really would be a fantastic route if we could get it! Not very long...probably 30 mins ride, but oh the joy of being off the road!!

I think I'll try and find out who the landowner is. If we can speak to them and gauge their interest/objections, maybe we can move forward? Bit nervous thought...how do you approach a farmer about changing their track..."Eh excuse me Mister but pelase can we ride on your track?"!! lol

Really wouldn't mind paying an annual toll fee for something like this.... or even doing some fundraising to help pay for gates etc
 
I would ask the landowner/s first to see if they would be agreeable to upgrade it to bridleway - before you mention money! If it was an old drovers road or bridleway and it is easily prooved, why pay to ride, and have the possibility of having it taken away when it could turn out to be free and recorded on the Definitive Map for ever?
If the landowner/s are all in agreement, the BHS are just trying to promote a quicker way, with less paperwork to getting these routes recorded. Ask about "express dedication" or read about it here;
http://www.accesstest.org.uk/expressdedication.html
Good luck - keep up the good work!;)
 
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