Bridleway / right of way help please...

teresagarsden

teresagarsden

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There is a track that runs from the corner of my field to the road at the top of the moors approx. 3/4 of a mile that has been used by horses for at least the last 30 yrs but is not listed as a bridleway just a footpath.
The farm further up has the access / right of way.
I have access from the lower road but no official access from the top.
The lady at the farm has said that she is going to put a locked gate on the lane to allow access for her only :O(

Question... Is there any way of trying to keep horse access for the lane, or is there a proceedure for applying for bridleway rights.

It would be a shame to lose this access as it leads directly to 2 bridleways with only a few mins road work.

Thank you all for your time
 
Contact your local council - they should have someone who's responsible for rights of way. If they think it's justified, they'll collect evidence of custom and practice, and if there's enough will take it to court. We've just given written evidence for one near us that we've ridden over for 17 years and my husband has run over for 20+ because the new landowner tried to close it. I think we've won!
 
they tried doing this to us a few years back. there is an old right of way that ran across the beach and up the side onto the road that was carved by horses about 100 years ago give or take.
National parks were there one day putting footpath signs on it not bridleway signs. We complained to them(big style) so they put off putting them up till we had it sorted with the councill. We wrote letters, got petitions going, got the more elderly in the village to write how they remembered work horses using it from their childhood etc etc. Even people who didnt like horses using it were convinced by our argument and wrote how there should be seperate paths for the continued use of horses and people.
It worked.
The councill got nationalparks to clear another pathway alongside it with horse friendly bridge over the stream and clear bridleway signs. (and no footpath signs on the original!)
 
I does cost a lot of money to change the stature of a right of way -think of all the paperwork, man hours, changes to OS maps etc etc etc so they dont like doing it unless you have a really good case for it. Can you prove horses have been usung it without complaint for x number of years etc etc. get a petition, that was really goof for us, and get every type of person to sign it.
 
You must make a big fuss, because once the gate is up and locked it will be a very long process to get it taken away. First look on the County Council Definitive Map to see what its current status is. It might already be a bridlepath or have "higher rights" as it is called.
If not, get some User Evidence Forms from the County Council and get as many local riders as possible to say that they have used it, as of right (not asked permission) for x number of years and were never stopped. Get in touch with the BHS County Bridlepath Officer, who should be able to help with this.

Also see what your local Council's "Rights of Way Improvement Plan" says about providing links between bridlepaths to improve the network and put this forward. Also look into the Paths For Communities, which must be multi-user to get funding.

Act fast, good luck.
 
The council will not gather the evidence for you, the ROW officer should be able to help you understand how the system works, but unfortunately you will need someone (perhaps you :) ) to co-ordinate getting local riders to fill out the evidence forms that show that the path has been ridden for a number of years. That is if it isn't on the deffinitive map, which the council will have. The OS maps are not always accurate, but the deffinitive map held by the council will be.
 
The first thing to do is to contact the Definitive Map Officer at your local County Council and ask them of the status of the route.
If it is not of bridleway or restricted byway status then you need to get some evidence forms for this route drawn up and get everyone that has used the route to complete one.
You should also carry out some historic research of the route to determine if it was a bridleway, byway or route used as a public path in previous years.
If you need some help then contact your local British Horse Society Bridleway Officer who will be only too pleased to help you.
If you are in Lancashire then your local BHS access officer is: Judith Burton Tel: 01257 252225 E: judith_burton@hotmail.com
 
As a follow on from this, does anyone know of anyway that a second claim can be put in for a path, after it has gone to public enquiry? I know it is a long shot, but a local (ish) lane was designated a foot path in the past, after going to public enquiry and I think it was the wrong decision (well I would, wouldn't I :p)
 
I'm not sure if I've read the OP right, but if you lose and this farm lady locks her gate so only she has access, make sure you lock your gate too so she can't ride her horse along the footpath through your field. She may change her mind if she's going to lose out too. Hopefully you can get it upgraded to a bridleway though, you've enough years of use.
 
In reply to York G question
You will need to carry out hostoric research to demonstrate the previous status of the route concerned and also get user evidence forms completed. You can then apply for a modification order.
Your local BHS access officer will be only to pleased to help you name and contact details are
:Jeni Gilbert Tel: 01484 863506 E:jeni_gilbert@hotmail.com
 
Thank you all so much for the information I will get on with doing this straight away.
I will also contact the BHS and see what help/advice I can get there too.

I knew I would be able to rely on you lot for some good advice :O)

Cheers Teresa
 
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