Footpath rerouting

[Exasperated]

Is this the sort of fencing you were thinking of? (I don't know why it's come out twice).


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That’s one way of sorting things!
Total overkill, yet plenty of farmers have to deal with entitled and anti social joe public cutting dog-sized holes in their stock fencing - definitely won’t be doing that here.
Will have cost a small fortune to install, was this land purchased in / near one of the govt’s housing development locations?

 

[cariad]

I don't blame him, to be honest. He is fortunate enough to be able to afford to make his point very visibly and it works. I don't know where it is, other than Somerset. A friend of mine has a short footpath at the end of her field and has no end of trouble with people who really should know better as most are local and know the area. I think for the most part, people are sensible, but it only takes one or two who aren't to give everyone a bad name.

I actually prefer to know exactly where I can go, either walking or riding, with fencing and/or good signposting guiding me. I hate it when you get to a point and there's about 3 choices and no indication as to which is the "right" one. I often end up just turning back, which is a disappointment. I'd also feel a lot safer going through an area with livestock in if there was a decent fence between me and them, even if the path or bridleway had been moved to accommodate that.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

There was a local farmer down here in Devon a few years back now, who had a FP going across the corner of his field, and very near to his house the other end of it. The silly fool decided to block the end near his house, and then went out being aggressive to people going across his land. Guess what, within days he had every rambler within a 100-mile radius (and further afield actually) turn up to walk across his land. Plus reporters from wide & far, and a film crew to boot.

So what I'm saying is be very careful indeed how you go about this; because (even if the path is hardly ever used) at the hint of anything "different" happening to the ROW you're liable to get the "we know our rights" brigade rock-up and play it to the full, they'll be attracted like flies to a turd.

I would be inclined to speak to a professional actually......... yes this is liable to cost you, but I do think it would be advisable to know where you stand. You need to know what is possible, what is not possible, and realistically your chance of success if you were to place an application to move the FP (with no doubt a sizeable "fee" required for it).

The other thing you might consider - and I do not know how feasible this is - would be to perhaps put out feelers towards someone like the Woodland Trust, or another "wildlife" or ecology type organisation, and donating the part of the land with the footpath on, to them. Perhaps they would be able to plant trees or whatever on it, which would give you an element of shielding from it, plus would save you the expense of doing it! It is just a thought, but like I say I do not know whether this is possible to do or not. Just throwing it out there.

Good luck with this.

 

[Exasperated]

There was a local farmer down here in Devon a few years back now, who had a FP going across the corner of his field, and very near to his house the other end of it. The silly fool decided to block the end near his house, and then went out being aggressive to people going across his land. Guess what, within days he had every rambler within a 100-mile radius (and further afield actually) turn up to walk across his land. Plus reporters from wide & far, and a film crew to boot.

So what I'm saying is be very careful indeed how you go about this; because (even if the path is hardly ever used) at the hint of anything "different" happening to the ROW you're liable to get the "we know our rights" brigade rock-up and play it to the full, they'll be attracted like flies to a turd.

I would be inclined to speak to a professional actually......... yes this is liable to cost you, but I do think it would be advisable to know where you stand. You need to know what is possible, what is not possible, and realistically your chance of success if you were to place an application to move the FP (with no doubt a sizeable "fee" required for it).

The other thing you might consider - and I do not know how feasible this is - would be to perhaps put out feelers towards someone like the Woodland Trust, or another "wildlife" or ecology type organisation, and donating the part of the land with the footpath on, to them. Perhaps they would be able to plant trees or whatever on it, which would give you an element of shielding from it, plus would save you the expense of doing it! It is just a thought, but like I say I do not know whether this is possible to do or not. Just throwing it out there.

Good luck with this.

Yes, do not ever try to block a public right of way. They are needed, it’s unfortunate that some of the users abuse the right.
And in the multi media 21st century - do not be aggressive or abusive, unless you want to go viral!
If hoping an inconvenient route might fall into disuse, do not draw any attention to it, but ensure it remains safely accessible at all times.
You could try offering a more attractive alternative, ‘permissive’ FP (these can be instantly closed by the landowner),such as a corridored path round the edge of the field and sign it ‘alternative route to avoid the cattle’ or similar, and often find that will be where most walkers go from then on. But that will not extinguish the original.
It’s sometimes possible to negotiate a trade-off with PROW, I know of three instances, where the FP was re routed to avoid the busy farm yard and proximity to the house, to follow a more scenic and peaceful detour instead. One benefit was keeping walkers right away from large tractors and plant.
There is a pressure group of Ramblers called Killer Cows (I think?) who actively advocate for the separation of livestock from public users, might be worth a look.