The cut-off date has been on the statute books since 2000, but was activated late last year by a commencement order, under the instructions of the then Secretary of State, Thérèse Coffey. However, we believe that the legislation does not actually take effect (i.e. no rights of way will actually be extinguished by the relevant provisions) until the cut-off date, which is now set for 1st January 2031. Therefore, right up until that date the legislation could still be repealed.

Now that we have a Government of a different political complexion, it is conceivable that such a repeal could happen, although it is unlikely that any such development would happen until the new government has got its feet well and truly under the desk. It was a Labour government that introduced the cut-off date legislation, but the accompanying undertaking to first complete the definitive map of public rights of way has never been fulfilled.

Here is LARA’s Briefing Note from May 2023, with further background and more information on the implications for motoring interests.

Note: The above applies only in England, as the Welsh Government has made it clear that the cut-off date will not be implemented in Wales.

LARA has drawn up a Business Plan which reviews and appraises its purpose and aims and sets strategic objectives for the next five years. The Business Plan was formally approved and adopted at LARA’s recent AGM. A summary version of the Business Plan can be viewed through this link.

LARA Business Plan – Summary

The Business Plan will be reported on, reviewed and updated annually by LARA at each future AGM.

In March 2023, Defra announced that it had reversed its earlier decision to repeal the rights of way ‘cut-off date’ legislation and that the cut-off date would be implemented, but deferred five years, from 2026 to 2031. Shortly afterwards, LARA prepared a Briefing Note with further background and more information on the implications for motoring interests.

We have just been informed that the cut-off date legislation is to be commenced as soon as possible and the legislation will come into effect on 25 October. On 26 October, a statutory instrument to extend the cut-off date to January 2031 will be laid in Parliament and will almost certainly come into effect on 17 November.

This legislation will extinguish any historical rights of way not recorded on the definitive map by the cut-off date. But this extinguishment will not take effect until the cut-off date. So there would still be scope to reverse the process up until that point were there to be a further change of policy under another government.

A major cause for concern is that the cut-off date legislation will be coming into effect ahead of the regulations intended to provide safeguards, in the form of exceptions to save from extinguishment certain specified rights of way that are not recorded by the cut-off date. Moreover, these exceptions will now not be as comprehensive as the rights of way Stakeholder Working Group had recommended and been led to expect.

We understand that the Secretary of State has agreed to exceptions relating to rights of way that are:

• subject to applications that are undetermined at the cut-off date.
• shown on the the List of Streets and/or National Street Gazetteer.
• situated in urban areas.

However, the Secretary of State has not yet agreed to the exceptions relating to:

• unrecorded and under-recorded widths.
• rights of way subject to definitive map orders delayed by court rulings.

And, the Secretary of State is opposed to the exception to save:

• unrecorded rights of way that are in regular use before the cut-off date, arguing that if these rights of way are to be saved, it should be by making applications, just as with other rights of way.

These developments will have much greater impact on other user groups than on motorists, but will be of concern to anyone who makes use of rights of way. The only direct threat to motoring interests is the exception for unrecorded and under-recorded widths, which could affect accessibility of some BOATs.

Defra will not at this stage be commencing either paragraph 4 of Schedule 5 to the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000, which provides that BOATs cannot be added to the definitive map, or the supplementary cut-off date provisions in Deregulation Act 2015 (sections 20 to 22), which will all be commenced in due course.

We’re delighted to welcome the Association of North East Midland Motor Clubs (ANEMMC) as Associate Members of LARA. You can read all about the ANEMMC at https://www.anemmc.org/.

The Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) and the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) have formalised their existing partnership by agreeing a Memorandum of Understanding.

The LARA/NMC partnership combines the technical, legal and analytical of experience of LARA with the lobbying and public affairs expertise of the NMC. When working together on issues there will also be the combined strength more than 20 organisations behind activities.

In recent years the range of threats to motorised access to unsealed country roads has increased and is starting to spill over to black-topped roads, both rural and urban, with schemes intended to encourage ‘active travel’. Problems traditionally seen as being about rights of way and other unsealed routes are becoming an issue of concern for all recreational motorists.

The Memorandum establishes a framework for collaborating on preserving and securing access to unsurfaced and and other minor roads and to furthering the aims of each organisation in relation to recreation and sporting activities on both two-wheeled and four-wheeled motor vehicles

The partnership will also raise awareness of the positive contribution of recreational motoring to hard-pressed rural economies and the other positive impacts, such as the benefits for people’s health and wellbeing and for biodiversity.

Read the NMC Press Release
Read the Memorandum of Understanding

LARA has just published “Managing Motor Vehicle Use in the Countryside – A Good Practice Guide to Traffic Management on Unsealed Public Roads”.

Read Managing Motor Vehicle Use in the Countryside.

This completes the refresh of the suite of LARA publications covering the key topics of maintenance, enforcement and traffic management. This fourth document in the suite replaces both parts of the previous “Traffic Management Hierarchy” publication.

It provides public authorities in England and Wales with a practical guide on managing the lawful and responsible use of motor vehicles on unsealed roads and byways. It will also help other interests to understand the processes involved and issues raised.

We believe it is in everyone’s interests to see the highways network properly used and well managed and maintained. We share the Government’s aim of preserving and protecting our network of green lanes for the benefit of all users.

Parliament has already provided all the mechanisms needed to manage the use of motor vehicles. It is a question of how best to employ them. LARA and its members are keen to invest our expertise and resources to ensure this happens and assist with this in practical ways. This guide will help with that aim.

The 30th of October is the 40th anniversary of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

This Act gave us the system of ‘continuous review’ of the Definitive Map and Statement (DMS), which is still in operation today.

It was the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act that introduced the DMS. Indications of the beginnings of a recreational highways network go back to the 1820s. But it was not until the 1949 Act that the concept of a national, definitive, legal record of rights of way was enshrined in legislation, following recommendations in a report by the ‘Hobhouse Committee’.

The DMS was to be complied by a nationwide survey. Local authorities were given a statutory duty to undertake the survey for each of their areas and it was thought that the survey would take four years or so, after which attention could then turn to improving and adding to the network. However, the survey was never completed despite further statutory duties being imposed on local authorities.

By the time of the ‘81 Act, the Government had effectively given up on the idea of completing the survey. It instead opted for giving local authorities a statutory duty to keep the definitive map and statement under ‘continuous review’. This meant that authorities had to modify the DMS whenever they came across, or were presented with, evidence that it needed to be updated or corrected. The legislation also enabled the public to participate in the process by making applications for definitive map modification orders (DMMOs).

In the period leading up to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, the idea of completing the historical record (i.e. the definitive record of rights of way in existence up to 1949) was resurrected. This led to the 2026 cut-off date provisions.

In England, if progress on the rights of way reforms project, which includes implementation of the cut-off date, continues to founder, the cut-off date may be abandoned or at least deferred. Welsh Government officials have already confirmed that the cut-off date will not be implemented in Wales.  In both cases, the current regime of continuous review would presumably continue to serve, while a decision is made on what to do next.

The continuous review system has been with us for 40 of the 70 years or so since the inception of the definitive map and statement. Arguably it has served well and it begs the question whether completion of the definitive map and statement is practicable, or indeed necessary?

The 1981 Act also gave us the definition of a ‘byway open to all traffic’ (or BOAT). Although BOATs, which were intended to replace ‘roads used as a public path’ (or RUPPs), were introduced in the 1968 Countryside Act, the term was not defined in legislation until the 1981 Act, where a definition can be found in section 66.

[The RUPPs to BOATs and Restricted Byways saga is interesting in itself and is worthy of a future News Post.]

If you are thinking about the summer holidays and planning a trip that will include military ranges or training areas – just a reminder about ‘Respect the Range’. This is the new campaign that encourages everyone, from families and dog walkers, to hikers, green laners, and mountain bikers, to be mindful of the shared lands and make sure they’re using the training areas only when it is safe to do so.

The Defence Training Estate is shared land. It’s where families, locals and other visitors spend time. But it’s also where our armed forces practise live-fire training. It can go from tranquil to treacherous overnight.

Not all areas of the Defence Training Estate are open to the public. So respect the range and to use the land respectfully; follow public access routes, and use the range when and where it is safe to do so.

To find out more about the campaign, and to check the training times, visit:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/safe-access

If you are planning a trip this Bank Holiday, and your trip will include military ranges or training areas –  just a reminder about ‘Respect the Range’. This is the new campaign that encourages everyone, from families and dog walkers, to hikers, green laners, and mountain bikers, to be mindful of the shared lands and make sure they’re using the training areas only when it is safe to do so.

The Defence Training Estate is shared land. It’s where families, locals and other visitors spend time. But it’s also where our armed forces practise live-fire training. It can go from tranquil to treacherous overnight.

Not all areas of the Defence Training Estate are open to the public. So respect the range and to use the land respectfully; follow public access routes, and use the range when and where it is safe to do so.

To find out more about the campaign, and to check the training times, visit
www.gov.uk/guidance/safe-access

As the spring weather arrives and lockdown continues to ease, Natural England and Natural Resources Wales have today launched a renewed Countryside Code. The theme is to welcome and encourage everybody to enjoy nature, but to encourage them do that in a way that protects and respects nature, other visitors and those who own and manage the land they visit.

You can access the code via the following links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code
https://naturalresources.wales/days-out/the-countryside-codes/the-countryside-code/?lang=en
https://naturalresources.wales/days-out/the-countryside-codes/the-countryside-code/?lang=cy