Cycling UK CAMPAIGNS BRIEFING Public Footpaths
Public Footpaths THIS BRIEFING COVERS: Legal status of public footpaths; countryside footpaths; conflict and conduct; pushing cycles on footpaths; upgrading footpaths; urban footpaths; gating orders. Please note: This briefing is about footpaths (paths for pedestrians that are away from the carriageway). It is not about footways/pavements (paths for pedestrians at the side of roads).
HEADLINE MESSAGES
Opening up much more of the Rights of Way (RoW) network in England and Wales would be of enormous benefit for the healthy and environmentally-friendly activity of cycling, both for recreation and day-to-day travel. Whether a legal right exists to cycle on a RoW does not necessarily relate to how suitable it is. Many footpaths are better for cycling than many bridleways (see photo below) – but, in law, cyclists are only permitted to use the latter. From a cyclist’s point of view, therefore, this often makes the RoW network incoherent, illogical and frustrating. This is a problem that can only be sorted out through legal reforms and political will. Even within the current laws, though, there are many ways in which local authorities could open up more paths for cycling.
KEY FACTS Cycling is legally permitted on less than a quarter (22%) of the Rights of Way network in England and Wales; in contrast, Scotland’s Land Reform Act (2003) opened up most of the Scottish countryside to cyclists, as long as they abide by an access code. England has 146,000 km of public footpaths, and Wales over 26,000 km. These are mostly rural rights of way specifically restricted to pedestrians and the right to walk along them is legally protected. If most English footpaths were opened up for cycling, it could more than triple the mileage currently available to cyclists in the countryside. Unless the landowner permits it, cycling on a footpath in England and Wales normally constitutes trespass, making it a civil but not a criminal matter. A local bye-law or Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) covering a particular footpath, however, can make it an offence. Although there is no legal right to cycle on footpaths, some are regularly used by cyclists. If enough cyclists use a footpath in this way without the landowner challenging them for (usually) 20 years, then a restricted byway may be claimed through ‘presumed rights’ under s31 of the 1980 Highways Act.
An example of inconsistences in the Rights of Way network: cyclists have no right to use the well-surfaced footpath on the left, but can ride on the muddy bridleway to the right. 1
www.cyclinguk.org/campaigns
Briefing 5E (May 2017)
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