Essex Area Ramblers

Ramblers - Saving lost paths

Ramblers have searched all of England and Wales and found over 41,000 miles of paths that could be lost forever as they are not officially recorded as public rights of ways.  The 2000 Countryside and Rights of Way Act introduced a cut-off date of 1 January 2026 for claiming ways as public based on historical evidence alone.  The cut-off date is the date after which it will no longer be possible to claim rights of way based on historic evidence alone. This means that any paths that are not legally recorded, and which have been historically used as a right of way, could be at risk of being lost forever. 

In 2022, the Conservative Government committed to remove the 2026 cut-off date.  However, in 2023 they did NOT remove it but only extended it to 1 January 2031 - the maximum allowed under the CROW Act.  Ramblers DLYW volunteers - as well as bridleway and other path using volunteers - stepped-up their research efforts submitting more claims to the local Highways Authorities.  This has resulted in large back-logs of claims to be processed by many County Councils - who are already under resource pressures.

On 26 December 2024, the Labour Government announced that it intends to repeal the 2031 cut-off date set by the previous Conservative Government.. "when parliamentary time allows". However, until the cut-off date really is repealed, volunteers are still needed to continue researching and claiming as many (useful) unrecorded rights of way as possible.  Claiming unrecorded paths - based on historical evidence or by evidence of usage - is the only way to make them legally secure and to safeguard them from obstruction, development or neglect.

If you would like to help with the work to record historic paths in Essex that could be lost forever please fill out the contact form.