OUR BRIDLEWAYS! - What can we do?

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GREYSMEADOW

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With more and more of our public bridleways/rights of way networks becoming impassable due to poor/insufficient maintenance and with the local councils having insufficient funds to repair every public right of way in their area, does anyone know a way in obtaining funding or a large grant to get the countryside fully open for users.

We know that the Councils have a statutory duty to keep paths in good repair for public use – but if there is insufficient funds, what can we do? If nothing is done then eventually some paths could become closed and then totally lost for ever.

Any suggestions in funding would be gratefully received.

Thanks for reading.
 
Surely it is equally the responsibility of landowners to keep rights of way accessible across their land?

If you are not already a member of the BHS you could join and support your local committee with access issues, or you could think outside the box and look in to private schemes such as TROT
 
I really do not know what the answer is, however me and my riding partner, often go out and clear the shrubbery away from our regular rides
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Yes and I know we are not supposed to, but we do, as our safety out riding is paramount and not all of us have access to TROT rides and the like.
 
I agree we are in Hampshire and in the nearly 30 years we have lived here we have effectively lost 4 good bridleways /BYWAYS I have mounted a campaign of constantly badgering the council but all I get back is no money and we are more and more being forced out on to the lanes to acheive a cicular ride .
I would try and contact any BHS rep in your area to see if you can rally support of other riders we have managed to get one fixed here when enough of us banded together.
I do worry as we are in the same position as you with paths neglected so much that they are only passable in the summer.
Having both retired now we are seriously considering re locating to an area where there is more done.
If they are BOATS (BYEWAYS open to all traffic ) some of the 4x4 clubs will help with mantenance a local group here did clear one for us that was bocked by many fallen trees and the council 'couldn't afford 'to pay to clear it.
 
The issue is to make your local authorities (the access deptrtment of your local county council) aware of which Rights fo Way require attention. They do have the money but they need to know what needs sorting out. You simply write to them by 'Royal Mail Signed For Service' enclosing a map showing where the right of way is and a description of what is wrong with it. Ask them to confirm receipt of your letter and advise you when the will be doing the work. They may not have funds this year but they can allocate some of next years funds to it.

If it is just a simple maintenace job such as cutting back hedgerow you can also do this yourself with funding from the Parish Paths Parnership scheme who will supply the tools, materials and insurance to do the work.

If you are looking at improving your local network of bridleways then join your local BHS County Group to so that they can help you improve them.

If you wish to know who your local BHS County Access Officer is then simply contact me giving me details of your closest town and which county you are in.

Peter Natt BHS Volunteer Access Officer North Hertfordshire
 
I echo what PN says, and have in the last 2 yrs reported faults to the various councils.
One council then put the upgrade in the following budget and from this there is a fantastic new path.

It does pay to ring up and speak to them. But never moan as this will only serve to get you ignored. Be polite and constructive.
 
Have you tried getting together with other riders in your area and starting a bridleways group. We now have about 80 members and raise money with raffles, sponsored rides, etc. We have recently got a bridleway re-opened that has been blocked for 20 years. We have a good relationship with our local council (who too have no funding for bridleways) but we organise working parties to clear paths and have also paid local contractors to improve surfaces where necessary.
 
BHS have lots of info on this. My friend is a member and she is well into campaigning for rights on bridleways/cycle ways. I would check out their website.
 
[ QUOTE ]

If you are looking at improving your local network of bridleways then join your local BHS County Group to so that they can help you improve them.


[/ QUOTE ]

BHS in Herts are currently trying to get our bridleways reclassified as a BOAT therefore letting bikes and other traffic use it so don't have alot of faith in them atm.
 
If you are sure the ROW is maintainable at the public expense you can serve a section 56 Highways Act 1980 on the Council and within six months under Magistrates Court Act 1980 Sections 51,52 Magistrates court rules 1981 R4. See page 289 and 290 of the Blue Book . Help could be obtained from the Ramblers Association or the Open Spaces Society there are no costs involved at this stage. Helps to concentrate the minds if you have a Local Access Forum set up under the CROW Acts contact them.
 
Thank you for all your comments – I guess what I should of mentioned in my original post is that I am a BHS Gold member and am also on the committee of my local bridleways group. We have a great website and whereby users can report path problems too.

I understand that is it usually the landowners responsible but sometimes it is a question of ‘who is the landowner’ and it becomes costly for the council to look into. We rely on members and riders who know the landowners – which is useful. Then there is the problem of farm vehicle access who have a right to use the path so you can imagine how damaged these paths get in winter and with the wet summers we have been experiencing too just doesn’t help.

I am in contact with the rights of way dept with our council and they have a huge ‘bridleway to repair list’ – problems which have been reported by users – currently in excess of £1M but they need over £3M for bridleways needing repair in the whole of the county.

We have been lucky enough to have some surface repairs done in 2008/2009 on two sections of bridleways in my area. Unfortunately you can’t really get to one of the bridleways from the other side because the surface is quite dangerous most of the year due to deep muddy ruts caused by farm vehicles. It would be great to have one circular bridleway which can be used all year round but we don’t. Doesn’t help when the farm vehicles from a ‘centre’ have trashed a portion of another bridleway whereby they could use the edge of the field.

The other repaired bridleway was when I kick started a campaign for users to pledge/donate to the surface repairs. We got an amazing response and managed to secure funding from organisations/trusts as well as from the public including riders and members plus organising a fund raising disco. We managed to raise in the region of £4K towards the path which I believe cost around £25K to do. So you can see where the money can be eaten up on just one bridleway. You will be amazed as to how many bridleways/rights of ways are just in one county alone which will need repairing at some stage.

There are some BOATS which have also been trashed by certain type of 4x4 users – and no they don’t I’m afraid help in maintenance.

As a group we do clearances and it is always useful to have a BHS gold member for the usual insurance etc.

I have looked into TROT scheme but we do have a good network of bridleway/permissive paths etc in the area but they are just in need of surface repair. I believe the TROT schemes are in areas where there is few or no bridleways networks.

I know that some organisations have been successful in obtaining BIG lottery funding to open permissive routes etc. but it doesn’t appear to work like that for public bridleways/rights of way – if only it did.

Somewhere out there, there must be a way of obtaining funding… but where!
 
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