Landowners and the law

Your responsibilities:

Rights of Way
All countryside users should follow the countryside code and be careful not to stray from the correct line. Responsibilities for maintaining a Right of Way are shared between the land manager and the county/unitary council.

Broadly, the Highway Authority (county or unitary council) must:

• maintain the surface of the Right of Way, including bridges and vegetation growing up from the surface of the path
• provide signing, such as fingerposts and waymarkers, to show the line of the route.

Broadly, the land manager must:

• keep the path clear of obstructions (locked gates, rubbish, electric fences, animals which would deter use of the path)
• maintain stiles, kissing gates and other structures
• cut back vegetation encroaching from the side of the path, including overhanging vegetation
• keep the line of the path clear of crops where it crosses fields
• not erect misleading signs nor plough out paths except in accordance with the regulations

This is only a summary of the duties - more details can be found on the Countryside Agency's web-site. Also, in some cases (for example, on promoted routes) the highway authority may take responsibility for stiles and gates.

Open Access Land
Land managers will also have responsibilities for the new 'Open Access Land' - the Countryside Agency has published a leaflet entitled 'New Rights, New Responsibilities' and their Open Access web-site for landowners contains information on which land is affected and landowners rights and responsibilities relating to access land. There are a number of restrictions near buildings and on MOD land, for example, so that not all the land identified will be open to walkers. It is estimated that 4 million acres will be opened up across the country, including large tracts of northern England. In the Hampshire area, the land identified is heath, downland and registered common land, and the large majority of this is open to the public on a permissive basis already, so it follows that the new access rights in Hampshire will not have a major impact. We advised Hampshire County Council on its approach to Open Access Land, which has now been adopted as described in this report.

The future of access to the countryside:
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 is the culmination of much lobbying and campaigning by interest groups over several decades, and makes some important steps towards providing better, and more, access. The Act requires every highway authority (county and unitary councils) and National Park Authority to set up a ‘Local Access Forum’; this is the site of the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum, which is the local access forum for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. The aim of the forum is to provide guidance and contribute towards improving opportunities to enjoy Hampshire’s countryside and coast.

Improvements to access - Rights of Way Improvement Plans
The Act also requires every county/unitary authority to produce 'Rights of Way Improvement Plans' (ROWIPs); Hampshire's Countryside Service was chosen to provide national pilot ROWIPs in two areas (the Forest of Bere and the Forest of Eversley) and we advised in detail on these. As a result, we advised on a process for producing plans for the remaining areas across the county, which was subsequently adopted by the County Council.  Progress on these plans is shown on the Hampshire County Council web-site.

Actions from the plans will be specific improvements targeted to meet particular needs, for example:

• ensuring safe, well-connected and useful routes for all users
• providing new links between areas and circuits of differing length and character
• targeted incentives for land managers to provide appropriate countryside access
• supporting rural businesses through promotion of facilities for countryside users
• replacing stiles with structures that are easier to use for the elderly and those with pushchairs, or removing structures altogether where they are unnecessary
• providing extra facilities for horse-riders and cyclists

Management of protected areas
Finally, the Act also encourages better management of the countryside, through a requirement for AONBs to produce management plans and through promoting good practice in conservation.