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The Assistant Director authorise the Chief
Legal Officer to make an order under 53(2)(b) of the Wildlife and
Countryside Act 1981 in consequence of the discovery of evidence as
provided for by Section 53 (3)(c)(i) of
the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to add a section of public
footpath in the parish of Stanwix Rural as shown A-B-C-D and on the
plan at Appendix 1.
 
If no objections are received to the made
order the Assistant Director authorise the Chief Legal Officer to
confirm the order. In the event that
objections are received and not withdrawn, the matter will be
referred to the Secretary of State for consideration.
 

Reasons for the decision

In determining these applications our role is
to consider whether or not the available
relevant evidence (including any evidence submitted by objectors)
supports the claim made in the application and whether it is at
least reasonable to allege that the right of way subsists. This
involves assessing the evidence that the public has used a route as
of right (without force, secrecy or
permission) and without interruption for a period of 20 years or
more. It is also important to establish that the landowner during
that period has not sought to prevent the public use of the
route.
 
In this case the 20 years uninterrupted use by
the public is from August 2000 to August 2020 being taken backwards
from the date the application was submitted.  49 of the users claimed to have used the path for
a period of 20 years or more. 18 of those stating that they have
used the path as regularly as every day and the path is still being
used today.
 
Some of the users make
reference to barriers being installed which, whilst reducing
the usable width of the path, did not stop use on foot.  The barriers being action taken by the former
Carlisle City Council to prevent use by horses and
motorbikes.  A prohibitive traffic sign
was also installed.
 
One of the users also makes reference to a wire fence that also restricted
the useable width of the path but at no time did anyone try and
obstruct usage of this path, they just wanted to stop the public
from accessing their adjacent land.
         
The survey by Countryside Access Officers on
21 March 2024 found this barrier to be compliant with the current
British Standard for accessible furniture (BS5709:2018) and the
wire fence has been replaced with a domestic wooden panel
fence.  
 
The user evidence produced shows that the
claimed section of path has been used by a
sufficient number of the public on foot for an uninterrupted
period in excess of 20 years to satisfy the Council that a public
footpath subsists or is reasonably alleged to subsist.
 
In order to negate
an application a landowner or objector needs to provide evidence
that the claimed route has not been used as a right of
way.  For example, that the landowner
stopped the public using the route by putting up notices or turning
people away or maybe locked gates or obstructions were present
which meant that the public could not physically walk along the
path as claimed.
 
No evidence has been produced to negate the
application.
 

Alternative options considered

The options considered are: -
 
a.       Not to make the
Order, or
b.       To make the Order as
requested.
 
The Council has a duty to investigate an
application, to consider all relevant evidence available to it, and
then to reach a conclusion.  It must,
therefore, evaluate the application. 
All the evidence must be weighed in the balance and any relevant
legal principles applied to it.
 
Given the evidence that has been submitted,
the Council has reached the conclusion as discussed above in
paragraph 3.4 of this report and has recommended that the
Definitive Map (DM) and Statement is modified in accordance with
the application and the order made.