Bridleway help...

Ginger Bear

Ginger Bear

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We have one bridlepath next to our yard which is great but just down the road there is a public footpath that has a track down & would be great as a bridlepath..but it has a gate accross it at the mo.. does anyone know who I contact to discuss this?? We'd be happy even if they just opened it up to us in the summer when the ground is sturdy..thanks
 
I don't know much about this subject, but the best person to approach would be your local area BHS access officer, who would know how to go about getting the ball rolling. It would be worthwhile also if you could establish who the actual landowner is/are where the track goes through.

Also, there's a chap who comes on here called Peter Natt who is very knowledgeable on these matters. Hopefully he'll see this.
 
You need to contact your local county council - they will put you through to the right department.

Realistically though it is highly unlikely you will obtain permission to use a public footpath as a bridleway as this requires change of use consultations, it's not a simple process.
 
All Local Authorities have a Rights of Way Officer, who you can contact. But unless you have some proof that horses have ever had access to a footpath you will be wasting your breath. The Walkers are a very powerful and well funded lobby, in order for a Footpath to be upgraded to a Bridlepath, it takes a great deal of legal paperwork and the walkers will never allow it and it is very unlikely the council would support it either.
 
Talking to local riders who are pensioners they might give you evidence to claim and upgrade or record it as a "lost way" it is a long process but it is worth doing and once recorded as a lost way the council will have to investigate even with the cut backs. In Northants some years ago we got 3 stiles removed from a track that was down as footpath and upgraded to a bridleway.
 
I managed to get a new bridleway opened a few years back. It took a lot of time (about 2 years) and we went back and forth with the local council, bridleways officer and local residents.

Basically it was a council owned area of woodland but had a voluntary group "friends of [name of woodland]" It already had a bridleway running through it and I applied to upgrade a footpath to a bridleway off the existing bridleway to connect with a third bridleway. This saved us riding up the main road (in south London so very busy).

The original proposed route was rejected by the friends of the woodland and the council as there was a badger sett nearby which they were worried about. The second proposed route was also rejected because it was a popular footpath with walkers and basically they didn't want to share! Finally, after getting the friends on side (very important!) a third route was proposed. This was actually an old footpath that had been overgrown for many years. The council cleared it for us, the friends were happy as their walkers had an extra path and the council were happy as we weren't near the badger sett.

The problem then was the residents, who argued we would de-value their houses by upgrading to a bridleway, that it would be an invasion on their privacy in their own homes, the cost of doing it, the fact that we were a commercial establishment and would be getting money from clients because of the new bridleway and finally the heath risks of horse poo!!!

Anyway, after all that I had to present a 3 minute speech to the top cats at the town hall and the opposition had the same oppotunity. My main arguement was the health & safety risks of riding on the main road and that was far better for horses to be in woodland rather than on the road. I also argued that it should be part of all local councils obligations to maintain and open new routes for riders under the governments rights of way improvement plan. The opposition just spent their 3 minutes moaning about horses and all the councillors voted in my favour!!

So the bridleway was opened, much to the disgust of residents! It was a permissive route and the council put signs up marking the route, and even a new horse friendly gate at the entrance for us!

It's certainly a long hard fight, but don't be put off. Contact the BHS access department - they will be able to tell you who is your local officer. You could also try the local press. I found them to be very helpful in putting our arguement across. I had articles submitted in local newsletters and the local paper came down, took photos of us and wrote up our story.

Good luck!
 
Not all walkers are hostile to upgrading paths, some are also horse riders (like me and DH) or cyclists (like my uncle and my DH)!

If you do contact the BHS and the council with a view to getting the path upgraded I would suggest contacting the CTC (cycle touring club - the cycling equivalent of the BHS) and any local mountain bikers groups and getting them to assist as well. I would also suggest having a friendly chat with the local ramblers group and see if you can get them to agree not to oppose you.

Councils are much more sympathetic to cyclists as they see is as "transport" rather than "leisure" so having cyclists on side - especially if you can argue that it will be used as a route to school/shops/next village/work etc will be a huge help.

The alternative to going down the route of getting the path upgraded is to contact the landowner and get permission to ride over his land. Again you might be surprised and he might agree, especially if you offer lots of reassurances about taking care with gates and not poaching the land etc.
 
I`m in the middle of the process with my local council.
There are no bridleways where i live, nearest is a good 8 miles away, but you need to ride on a busy A road which i am not doing, my horses are great on roads but I dont trust cars. The one bridlepath which is right at the bottom of my lane goes through a small farm and then onto scrub land and finally down to the beach (perfect) unfortunately the bridlepath was turned into a footpath apparently, the farmers wife refuses us access which is fair enough if it is a foot path.
Council is now trying to determine if it is actually a footpath as it is marked as a bridlepath on all OS maps....
Get onto your BHS they`re really really helpfull and normally contact the council for you.
 
Thank you for all the advice..have just emailed the council & BHS..the tip about getting cyclists on side is good - hadn't thought of that..
 
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