- Location
- Snodland kent
May be worth having a talk to them soon.
Shouldn’t they also have to have historically evidence it’s always been a bridle way.I too have just had a letter have 30 days to object so emailed with a list of objections only to be told that my objections count for nothing I have to find historical evidence that it has only been a footpath and never a bridleway.
If right is not documented ot takes 20 years to establish new pubpic right.
You can deposit a statement and declaration with local authority confirming rights of way that you acknowledge across your farm. This does not stop a claim being made for a new right however stops the 20 year period accumulating from the date of deposit. This is a useful thing for landowners to do.
Exactly the same in our case, claimants lying and Kent CC both believing and supporting them. Again our track was overgrown and impassable for a large portion of the 20 year continued use period. Inspector's only real case for approving claim was we hadn't signposted saying it WASN'T a footpath. Ironically first user once it was official was the local MP!We had a footpath imposed on us years ago, on an old rutted track that went over a stone railway bridge. Railtrack wouldn’t help us object (& have now had to spend well over a million replacing the failing bridge, as it has a right of way on it ?), and the group organising the claim managed to get together letters saying people had walked it for 20 years. Not the recent 20 years that we had owned it, but previous to that!
Most were downright lies, as we had cleared the overgrown track to be able to use it. One of the signatories had also been in a wheelchair all her life ffs.
There was nothing we could do about it.? We have Powys cc looking to try and extend paths and access here, but the previous experience prevents me giving the tossers an inch.
I have found online a 1897 map showing a house and a lane that we never new existed and just presented this as evidence that the bridleway continues on this path and perhaps not our footpath.Rang NFU they said that the existing mapping records go back to early 1900s but the horse group are saying that it was a bridle way in the 1800s in some cases. There are no records back to 1800s so there’s no evidence to dispute. This is happening all over this area. We suspect they are making this up as they have in other areas/cases.
I think these types of claims are going to get worse as the deadline to register rights of way is coming up in 2026.
We have a local busy body sending hundreds of applications into Norfolk County Council registering footpaths and changing their classification without proper consultation of landowners.
We are subject to one of his applications which intends to stop motorised vehicles from using an established footpath. Unfortunately this path is the only access to about 80 acres of our land!
The council are well aware of what he is doing and are not too happy that he is personally responsible for a tenfold increase in their workload. But they are tied by legislation bought to law by Blair which is heavily weighted in the favour of the public and access groups such as ramblers and I expect we will need the assistance of a specialist agent or solicitor to appeal.
Good luck to everyone in the same boat!