THE RAMBLERS
EAST DORSET GROUP

Rights of Way Problems

Broken stiles, blocked paths, missing signposts and way marks etc. Don’t just grumble when you come across path problems. You can actually try to do something about them.

All you have to do is tell the highway authority what you have found and where.

Inform the highway authority

Note down the location and details of the problem as soon as possible and if you can take a photograph, all the better. Check that the path is a public right of way by looking at way marks or by using an Ordnance Survey map. If there is any doubt you might need to look at the definitive map for the area. The Dorset County Council is the highway authority responsible for all the public rights of way in Dorset except for those in the unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. So report what you have found to Bournemouth, Poole or Dorset. If you are walking outside Dorset, you can find out who to report the problem to here.

Who else should be told?

The Ramblers does not usually get involved with problems at this stage – there are too many. You, on the ground, are best placed to explain the situation and check if it has been corrected. The East Dorset Group has a footpath secretary for each part of its area and you can inform them as well by contacting us. East Dorset Group also runs some effective footpath clearing parties, and can sometimes help if overgrown vegetation is the main problem.

Go out and check

About three months after reporting the problem, go out and check if anything has been done. A reminder (or two) may be necessary if the problem persists.

Help

If you have checked that the problem is on a public right of way, informed the correct authority and then reminded them and nothing has happened, what can you do next? The Ramblers’ website has a number of pages about footpath problems, including some simple suggestions for action.

If you have not already done so, now would be the time to write to us but, at the same time, continue to send reminders of your original report to the highway local authority.

Not a public right of way

What do you do if you have been walking along a path believing it to be a right of way and the landowner suddenly blocks or closes it? It might be possible for you to get it made into a public right of way.

Talk to other people in the area and see if you can gain some support for making the path available to all permanently. If you and your supporters can show that the path has been walked for at least 20 years by means of witness statements (or using documentary evidence) and that the right to walk there has not been challenged, a new public right of way may be deemed to have been dedicated. Sometimes landowners close such paths for one day a year to show that they do not intend them to be public rights of way or put up private notices. If neither of these has happened, you may be able to prove your case. It does not have to be one person who has walked it for the 20 years, as overlapping statements will do. Here is advice from the Ramblers on how to proceed.