The government has unveiled new advice aimed at making it easier to divert a public right of way where there are concerns over privacy, security, and safety.
The Defra guidance, effective from 1 August, could prove helpful for farmers and landowners hoping to divert or extinguish a footpath.
It states that when an application is made to divert a path, “an authority should consider the impact of the existing path on the property owner and/or occupier against the benefit that having the right of way through the land brings to the public”.
The local authority must also be able to show that they have considered the benefits to privacy, security, and safety of diverting or extinguishing the right of way.
Diverting a footpath is a notoriously long and complicated process and one which can come with significant costs if there is opposition.
NFU environment forum chair, Richard Bramley, said the amendment was something the union had been working with Defra on for several years.
“Farmers recognise the importance of the rights of way network in England and Wales, with millions of people visiting the countryside to improve their mental health and physical wellbeing," he said.
"However, when a path crosses through a private residence or a working farmyard it can pose a serious privacy, safety and security risk.”
The government instigated the reform process with Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and since then the NFU has been part of the Defra SWG (Stakeholder Working Group) which oversees the finer details.
The SWG involves a range of interested parties including landowner representatives, countryside recreation groups and local authorities negotiating with Defra on the intricacies of the new reforms.
This can involve sensitive negotiation, and it has taken extensive talks to finally agree the new guidance, popularly known as the “presumptions guidance”.
The SWG are currently negotiating on further sets of reforms, which the government intends to table as legislation in the coming months.
Used alongside the new laws, the guidance will likely give invaluable assistance to local authorities in developing a footpath network fit for the future.
Mr Bramley concluded: “The NFU welcomes the address of this issue and looks forward to hearing updates from Defra’s Stakeholder Working Group on the remaining reforms over the next few months."
