Strava running app highlighting illegal routes on farms

[Farmer Roy]

Devil's advocate here - some folks have farms with footpaths/ PRW, others have farms without. Those without are more valuable as a result. Why should those who farm the less valuable land get a free upgrade because they're not prepared to work with the public/ put up adequate fencing to keep intruders out?

Yes, I know it's not as simple as that, but as I read it our Australian correpondents want to take established rights away from the public and give the effectively shared (public/ private) assets 100% to the private sector.

in NSW, we have lots of roads marked on topographic maps which aren’t actually roads, or no longer public access. These were surveyed in the ? late 1800’s / early 1900’s when a lot of the larger stations were broken up into smaller holdings. In many cases, they were for access into blocks without public road frontage, sort of an easement as such I suppose, but still belonging to the “Crown” ( in this case the NSW government ), but linked to the land title. Most are irrelevant today as those smaller blocks were bought up / amalgamated back into larger holdings once it was realised people couldn’t actually make a living on 200 acres . . .
Anyway, I have a couple of these “roads” running through my place & I pay an annual road permit fee ( about $150 ) because of that. They are linked to the land title, so it’s not like an outsider can “out bid” me and claim the permit & 1.8 ha of land in the middle of one of my fields . . .
It is a bit of an administrative task for Crown Lands, so a few years ago they were actively encouraging permit holders to buy the “roads” & have them added to their freehold title. The only real problem was if a neighbour needed it left open as their only access, it had to stay open. Only the person who had the title to the land that the road is on, can buy the land. If they don’t want to, then it stays as a road permit. But they still aren’t “public access” in the way your footpaths are, it does cause issues at times with people following maps. Surveyed roads aren’t always public roads . . .,

Anyway, to answer your question, IF footpaths / bridleways etc WERE to be returned to private ownership, the only way to do it would be for the landowner to be offered the chance to buy it. Market rate or token ? Dunno, but it couldn’t be offered to anyone else BUT the land it runs through, otherwise you would end up with slsorts of problems, or the Ramblers just buying them all up, etc etc

IF they weren’t in a position to buy, then the footpaths would just stay as they are, open to the public ?

seems a fair way to do it.

Its not like anyone is getting “anything for free” or an “unfair advantage” over others


purely from Biosecurity & WHS viewpoints, I think it is unbelievable that the public can have access through what is a worksite . . .
No other industry ( construction, mining, forestry ? etc etc ) has to deal with that

 

[Farmer Roy]

PS - please don’t think I am dismissing the need for public outdoor recreational facilities, for physical & mental health, but also to allow people to have a connection with the environment or the “natural” world, which is so lacking in today’s society

I just think that public access through working farms isn’t the way to do it.

it is vital to have areas for outdoor recreation, just seems a pity that the UK doesn’t have the network of public reserves, National Parks. State Forests etc etc that we are SO blessed to have

 

[MickyMook]

It’s a lot simpler across the pond in Northern Ireland - where public rights of way through farmland aren’t the norm except in a few areas. I can’t get my head around the idea of the general population wondering through my yard - it would drive me bananas. That said, from my understanding, any injury that a tresspasser incurs on my property is my responsibility unless I have a full perimeter fence, a padlocked gate and signage notifying the public that they aren’t welcome. I the perimeter fence, but even that is subject to the whims of rotting post bottoms.

 

[Brisel]

PS - please don’t think I am dismissing the need for public outdoor recreational facilities, for physical & mental health, but also to allow people to have a connection with the environment or the “natural” world, which is so lacking in today’s society

I just think that public access through working farms isn’t the way to do it.

it is vital to have areas for outdoor recreation, just seems a pity that the UK doesn’t have the network of public reserves, National Parks. State Forests etc etc that we are SO blessed to have

We do have parks and plenty of open access land. The Great Unwashed just want to be able to walk where they like. As with most situations, a minority give the rest a bad name.