Defra, UK - Farming - Environmental management

Farming

Rights of way and access

Public access to the countryside falls into two main categories:

public rights of way
open access land

Both present certain rights and responsibilities on the land owner or occupier.
Farmers and land managers can also take additional steps to create public access land.

Public rights of way

Rights of way are minor public highways. They include footpaths (where the right of way is on foot only), bridleways (for pedestrians, horse riders and bicyclists), byways open to all traffic (BOATs), and restricted byways (all traffic except motorised vehicles).

Responsibility for rights of way which cross private land is shared by the land owner or land manager and the highway authority.

Highway authorities are under a duty to maintain those highways that are maintainable at public expense; nearly all public rights of way are maintainable at public expense.

As the landowner you are required to remove any obstructions, such as a locked gates, which restrict the public's access to a way. You are also responsible for maintaining any stile, gate or similar structure across footpaths and bridleway in a safe condition.

Highway authorities may secure the removal of any obstruction by serving notice on the person responsible and may arrange for the removal of the obstruction at that person’s expense.

Full details of the responsibilities for maintaining rights of way are detailed in the Rights of Way Act (1990) for England and Wales, which includes:

a statutory right to plough footpaths and bridleways that pass through fields and which are not field edge paths. However, you must make good the surface within 14 days of the first disturbance. The local highway authority has the power to authorise an extension of up to 28 days for further works
to ensure that in making good the surface that a footpath has a minimum width of 1 metre and a bridleway has a minimum width of 2 metres

The Wildlife and Countryside Act, enforced by the highway authority, makes it an offence, subject to important exceptions, for the occupier of a field crossed by a right of way to cause or allow a bull to be at large in it. The exceptions are:

bulls not more than ten months old; and
bulls which are not of a recognised dairy breed and which are at large with cows or heifers

Any bull over ten months old is prohibited on its own, and any such bull which is of a recognised dairy breed is prohibited even if accompanied by cows and heifers.

[Dairy breeds are Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey, and Kerry.]

In general anyone taking a dog on a right of way is responsible for keeping it under proper control. If a dog is allowed to run around off the path, trespass is committed against the holder of the land.

There is no rule requiring a dog to be kept on a lead on a right of way but it is an offence to allow a dog to be at large in a field or enclosure in which there are sheep (Dogs (Protection of Livestock ) Act 1953). It is also an offence to allow a dog to attack or chase livestock.

Occupiers belonging to the Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) scheme must maintain existing rights of way and abide by the relevant legislation.

If you have applied to the ELS scheme you should refer to section 5.3 of the ELS handbook for details of the scheme requirements.

Further guidance for land managers, and for the general public, is provided by the Countryside Agency. Of particular relevance to farmers and land managers are the Signs on access land in England - land managers and Managing Public Access.

Open access land

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW) introduced new rights for people to walk on areas of open country and registered common land.

People can usually walk on areas of mountain, moor, heath, down and common land throughout England, subject to common sense restrictions.

If you are an owner or tenant of access land you can restrict access to 28 days each calendar year for land management purposes.

You can also apply for further restrictions on the basis of land management, fire prevention or public safety. Details are available at the Open Access website for land managers.

The legislation regarding restrictions is outlined in full in the Access to the Countryside (Exclusions and Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2003.

Farmers and land managers with land in Wales should contact the Countryside Council for Wales.

Guidance on public access law in Scotland is available from Scottish Natural Heritage.

Creating public access land

Land owners or land managers with a long lease can voluntarily dedicate land as CROW access land.

Dedicating land can reduce the overall liability of the land owner or land manager to visitors. Defra has produced guidance on the process and a leaflet on dedications.

If it is already CROW access land, rights available to the public can be voluntarily extended.

There are grants available for providing access under the Higher Level Stewardship scheme (HLS). You should refer to HLS options HN1 to HN9 for details of the payments available for allowing the public on to your land on a concessionary basis without creating new permanent rights of way.

Site maps and waymarks will be provided and kissing gates or other access furniture may be funded by a Capital Works Plan.

It is the occupier’s responsibility to ensure that their public liability insurance is sufficient to cover additional access by members of the public.

Access payments are classified as ‘de minimis state aid’. European rules mean individual businesses are not allowed to receive more than £70,000 from this type of aid over a three-year rolling period.