Review of definitive map

[slackjawedyokel]

I’ve had a letter from the council today which has got me a little concerned. They are looking to add a “byway open to all traffic” to their definitive map and have provided a description and map of what they wish to add. Most of what they propose I have no problem with but one bit is just peculiar.
Our farm access road is a tarmaced, heavily potholed, council maintained (or not) road which as far as I’ve always been aware is public up to our farmyard. Just before the farmyard we have a nice large triangular patch of grass; the farm road runs along one side of the triangle and the start of a bridle way (and general farm track) runs along the second side. The third (longest) side is just grass (which we mow). I do drive along the third side at times (particularly carting bales), but the ground is soft when wet so I only do this when I’m not going to make a mess, otherwise I come up into the yard to turn.
They’re proposing that, instead of the byway coming up to meet the farmyard, that it heads off along the soft grass and on along the bridleway for approximately 15 metres before stopping. At this point the farm track/bridleway is a standard, puddly, muddy track. There is nowhere sensible to turn round so vehicles would have to back back along the farm track and back across the soft grass to get back to the hard surface of the road (or mess up our grass turning round, or continuing along our bridleway)
I’m hoping that this is all a bit of a mistake. They say it’s supported by various documentary evidence (‘list of streets’ from 1958 to 1974, various road schedules, highways maps and OS maps dating back to the 1820s), but I’m thinking that perhaps these weren’t compiled with too much care and attention to detail and/or are at too large a scale to accurately record this sort of fine (but important) detail.
I’ve written back to them detailing my concerns. What are the chances that common sense will prevail or will I be subjected to weekend 4x4ers re-enacting the Somme on what was the nice bit of my grass in front of my house?

 

[Brisel]

Get a professional agent on it. Erect a gate where the end of the proposed track will be, so only the permitted traffic can continue on it. I'm not quite sure which one you mean.

I've got the same issue with an old farm track hardly used over the last 40 years but the council seem keen to make it a bridleway open to electric vehicles, which I think means basically everything.

 

[PostHarvest]

I agree with Brisel. Get it corrected asap. The council issued a new map that covered the land connected to my dad's cottage. They showed it as a fully functioning road when its never been more than a footpath, not even a bridleway. It was even shown on the fire service maps which was crazy as the route it showed went right through a barn. It took them about 10 years to change their mistake and another 15 to stop people who had bought the map trying to use the road where there wasn't one.

 

[theboytheboy]

Have either of you filled in and submitted a ca16 form?
I'm in the process of doing one. My understanding is that once submitted it helps stop this sort of thing. We had a case closely where a member of the public applied for a bridleway to be classified as a boat and I think if there is evidence (even if very old) this can be done by anyone. Could even involve reinstating old paths from years ago.
I'm no expert so hopefully someone more qualified will correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Brisel]

This whole circus is going to get worse until 2026 when they close the doors on it & spend the next 15 years wading their way through claims & counter claims on a budget of £10.45/year...

 

[David_]

A word of warning on this, if pushed the council will likely rely on old OS maps in cases like this and will be backed in court if you aren’t able to supply concrete evidence to the contrary. This is despite the old OS maps being drawn to a limited accuracy (in terms of footpaths etc.), containing statements regarding limited accuracy/error margins and the fact that the paths shown on the maps are not proof of a right of way. The problem is that the definitive maps and parish schedules etc. aren’t accurate enough so all that exists in cases like this are OS old maps and so the lines shown on these will be used down to the inch. I have bitter experience of this thanks to a neighbour from hell!

My advice would be to prepare yourself by getting as much historical evidence together as you can (old OS maps and anything else you can find) and having a look for yourself what is on these maps. In our case the council looked at all maps but mainly relied on maps from 1938 as these were the last low scale (1:2500) maps drawn before the date when the definitive map was created (1954 I think it was here), so their argument was that this was the best representation of the paths on the ground when they were claimed in the definitive map. Independent experts are expensive and will use the same maps and materials as the council in my experience.

By all means if you think the council are wrong challenge them on it. Councils do not do a good job of maintaining maps and do tend to make mistakes when dealing with this stuff. Once it’s on the definitive map there will be no getting rid. Seek legal advice but be careful, the council are backed by public money and will take whatever legal action they deem necessary to get their way. It’s easy to be dragged along in the process and end up with a huge bill. This happened in our case thanks to our neighbour fighting the council. As affected land owners we were dragged along too.

Once you’re informed on the historical maps I would also talk to the council in person or over the phone and express your concerns. Be friendly and straight, the guy in charge of our council ROW department is always looking to work with landowners rather than against. Erecting a gate will likely only inflame the situation and make you unpopular with the council and militant locals so I wouldn't advise this. If you can resolve it amicably without going down any legal routes then do so, even if it means accepting something you are not 100% happy with. Then complete a statutory declaration form (ca16 that @theboytheboy refers to?) to avoid any more of this sort of thing in the future.

I'm no legal expert, just my opinion and me telling you a few things I wish someone would have told me 5 years ago when our nightmare started!

Good luck!
David