Is it possible to buy a bridle path?

[Nicole W]

I was just 'assuming' the person owned the land as it would seem a bit weird to put in planning permission if you don't have official access. Unless they were going to do what we were thinking of doing and 'claiming' the bridle path land as their own.

Regarding the land at the front of the house... as far as I know it was originally a grass verge, but the owner of us and next door (same man) gravelled it over some years ago. I think he sold our house in the 50s and next door in the 70s. Since then people sometimes park there but it's a little annoying as it blocks the light into ours and next door's house. The area is off road, so we're not sure if the council own it or not. The area certainly 'looks' as though it belongs to the houses but we can't tell people we'd prefer them not to park there as it's not ours so we have no rights.

 

[Flyfisher]

I 'own' a footpath; or, as has been correctly pointed out above, some land on which there is a public footpath.

My understanding is that, since I own the land, I automatically have vehicular access; i.e. I can drive my car/tractor/whatever around my own land including, the footpath, as I see fit. But the public have no vehicular right of way since it is only a footpath.

I also believe that, although I have the right to drive my own vehicles along the footpath on my own land, any vehicle in question must be road legal, taxed and insured, because the footpath is a public right of way.

I'm not entirely sure about that last point but I'm sure I read it somewhere . . . which makes it interesting when I mow along our lane and drive across the footpath in the process.

 

[skier-hughes]

I think farm vehicles not used on the road are exempt, so in theory if your part one is corrrect you'd have no exemption :idea:

 

[Nemesis]

Correct - as it is a piece of land on which you can have 'lawful authority' to drive, if you own the land you have lawful authority to drive and anyone else to whom you grant such authority can have access too.

Section 34a RTA, dating back to 1932 I think, re-enacted several times and in the 2000 CROW Act.

i'm a bit rusty on this but you could be right about having to have a road legal vehicle.

The thorny one is village greens.

With regard to parking - again, it all depends. Check the legal width of the RoW. It would be an offence to hinder access.

It is not illegal to park on land on which otherwise it would be illegal within 15 yards of a roadway. But claiming it permanently could be hard, you need legal advice again.

 

[biffvernon]

I[/url]"]it was 'the good passage' that constituted the highway, and not only 'the beaten track', so that if the beaten track became (as it invariably did in wet weather) 'foundrous' the King's subjects might diverge from it, in their right of passage, even to the extent of 'going upon the corn'

 

[Flyfisher]

So if (hypothetically you understand :wink: ) I cut the grass on the footpath with a non-road legal tractor, i.e. not taxed etc, would I be breaking the law?

Also, is there a legal definition of 'farm vehicle' and would it involve actually being used for farming, or is a tractor a 'farm vehicle' whoever owns it?

 

[Nemesis]

Possibly not as much as we do every time we drive over the village green for access. We also cut the grass with a motor mower... which is registered village green too.

As for the rest - it's time for a large glass of wine as it all makes my brain hurt these days. I think really there are no definitive answers until there is a legal precedent!

Grass cutting machines are exempt though.

http://tinyurl.com/ycnq9h

has more info.

 

[skier-hughes]

My old District Council were rather embarressed by the fact they'd employed a guy who was banned from driving to sweep the pavements with one of those ride in small sweepers.
Apparently the application form didn't ask whether they had a current driving license.

 

[Flyfisher]

Informative link; thanks Nem.

It's good that a 'grass cutting machine' is specifically exempted as an MPV, and therefore (I think) can be driven on a public highway without tax/insurance etc., although it does rather mean that I'll now need a different excuse for disallowing my 15-year-old from driving down to the village shop on the ride-on mower!

 

[Nemesis]

My car is so low it cuts the grass in the middle of the three ply.

That's my excuse. Although as village green it may be illegal anyhow, and it's not a PRoW.



It's complex.

 

[Nemesis]

This is a wider issues site, but the links are useful:

http://www.naturenet.net/row/

 

[skier-hughes]

Informative link; thanks Nem.

It's good that a 'grass cutting machine' is specifically exempted as an MPV, and therefore (I think) can be driven on a public highway without tax/insurance etc., although it does rather mean that I'll now need a different excuse for disallowing my 15-year-old from driving down to the village shop on the ride-on mower!

Even if it is exempt, it doesn't mean you can drive it on the public highway.

 

[Flyfisher]

Are you sure?

The exemption means a 'grass cutting machine' is not an MPV, so 'road legal' has no meaning and no tax etc is required. Same as a bicycle, but they are allowed on the roads.

Is there another set of regulations regarding what is allowed on the public highway?

 

[stuart]

Hi there,

with regard to the original post i can offer a couple of thoughts as we have gone through an uncanily similar situation 2 years ago. Im no expert and as mentioned the law is very unclear, but there are a couple of things you can do.

the first is to approach your county council to establish whether the bridle way is 'adopted' or not, and if it has been then who by. Here in east sussex it you'd contact the Rights of Way department but as with all political things in the uk the department will vary from county to county.

if anyone has adopted it, whether council or person, they are obliged to maintain the section they have adopted - where 'maintain' in both our cases means keeping it of a suitable standard to ride a horse or bike or drive a wheelchair on. i.e cars dont figure in the equation.

You dont technically have any right at all to drive a car on a bridle way whether or not its adopted, however the 'adoptee', if there is one, can offer you 'an easement' with the land registry under the Ad Medium Filum Viae rule (and I dont know what it means before you ask! ''

I'm fairly certain you are able to adopt half the width of the right of way abutting your property, so if you each claim a section, youd be getting somewhere as your track is 2 cars wide, but I guess your cottages dont extend all the way to the road, in which case you still havent solved your problem.

So the thing to do is make friends with the person who applied for the planning permission so they'd continue to grant you access in the event they claimed the land.

This is what we did and now they have granted us an easement which has been registered.

As for maintainance, we do all ours ourselves. I hired a digger to dig the ditch and put brick rubble in the pot-holes when necessary and think this os the best way forward. If you dig the ditch properly then no-one will get flooded, and as you dont own it then your not obliged to do anything either.

A blotchy answer, I know but hope it gives you some ideas.
Stuart