Rights of way improvement plan 2020 to 2030

Although the public rights of way network is made up of legally defined routes it can, and does, continually evolve and adapt.

The process of doing this may present challenges, but it is important that the council strives to develop a network which meets both current and future needs. These needs include:

• an increasing population
• more older people with potentially greater health needs
• a more diverse population

It means ensuring that the changes which result from housing growth bring benefits and that both new and existing residents can access the countryside around them.

It also means ensuring developers of new housing see rights of way as assets rather than restrictions

Green infrastructure is a planned network of green spaces.

All local planning authorities must set out their approach to creating a strategic network. This should be designed and managed to deliver a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities, including biodiversity, recreation and health and wellbeing.

Green infrastructure includes, amongst other types of greenspace:

• parks
• open spaces
• playing fields
• woodlands
• allotments
• rights of way
• commons
• open access land

Rights of way have a particularly valuable role as green corridors, both for people and nature.

The need for green infrastructure is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. Planning access as a part of green infrastructure should take place both at a strategic and at a local, development site, scale. The Rights of Way Service will work with planning officers and the council’s Environment Team to ensure that public rights of way and access are properly and fully considered in local plans and green infrastructure strategies.

To ensure that negative impacts from major infrastructure are fully mitigated, we will work with partners and delivery agencies to ensure the effects of major infrastructure are fully mitigated, disruption to access is minimised and improvements secured.

It is also important that local communities developing neighbourhood plans consider access provision. The council plan strategic improvements to access to meet the needs of communities. Projects to support urban-countryside links, active travel, health and wellbeing, the visitor economy and the specific needs of users will be prioritised.

It is also important to work alongside the council’s strategic transport teams and external partners to realise aspirations for new routes and to secure funding. These include the Colne Valley Regional Park, Chiltern Society, Sustrans and the Chilterns Conservation Board amongst others.

To ensure that access improvements are strategically planned to meet Buckinghamshire’s needs we will:

• Work with partners to ensure that local and neighbourhood plans and green infrastructure strategies include a comprehensive assessment of access needs and contain robust policies to improve access for all users, ensuring that development has no detrimental impact and that access provision is improved (EN1.1).
• Progress strategic projects with partners where these address Buckinghamshire’s needs (EN1.2).

The high levels of planned housing growth will lead to changes which affect public rights of way.

Major development areas will create a new urban-countryside edge. Development also provides the chance to improve access, both within the development and beyond the development boundary. Access improvements should be carefully planned at the design stage. The council will expect access which is high quality and is suitable for a wide range of users to be set out in development applications.

Proposals should also address the needs identified in this ROWIP. This is important to support health and wellbeing and active travel and to create a high quality of life for residents. The council has developed a planning policy note setting out standards for public rights of way and access in new development.

There will be direct impacts on some public rights of way which are within the development area. The council will expect developers to minimise disruption to access during construction through limiting closures and providing alternative routes where possible.

The links from residential areas into the countryside are a priority. These are heavily used paths which provide people with their day-to-day opportunity to access the countryside. When assessing development applications, the council will evaluate how well access proposals link to the existing public rights of way network, accessible green space and other routes such as footways and cycleways. The council will work with the planning officers and seek developer contributions for on- and off-site access improvements.

To ensure that housing growth brings access improvements to communities, we will:

• Work with partners to ensure that high-quality, multi-user access improvements are sought and included in new development proposals (EN2.1).
• Develop and adopt access standards and specifications for routes in and arising from new developments through pre-application comments, requesting amended drawings, planning conditions and developer contributions through s.106. Officers will work alongside highways colleagues to secure on and off site works through s.38 and s278 Highways Act 1980 (EN2.2).

In some places better connections are needed between paths. Sometimes new routes are needed or it would be beneficial to upgrade a route, for example a footpath to a bridleway.

The council will seek new routes in areas of high demand and where these will help to address the needs set out in this ROWIP. These routes may also help deliver the aims of other strategies, such as the Local Transport Plan, local plans and green infrastructure strategies. Priorities for new connections include urban-countryside paths, multi-user routes,21 routes to support the visitor economy and health and wellbeing and routes to work, school or local services.

There are also some dead-end routes or paths which end at busy roads. Some paths end at the county boundary or change status, for example a bridleway becomes a footpath.

There are also long-standing anomalies in the mapping of some routes. Bridleways, restricted byways and BOATs are already less well-connected than the footpath network and therefore the priority will be to improve the connections of these paths.

Requests from parish councils, community groups or the public will be assessed and taken forward as appropriate through our processes for making changes to the rights of way network. In many cases additional funding will be needed for new routes. The council will secure funding through working with partners and seeking contributions from developers.

The council has a strong preference that new access is formally dedicated to form part of the definitive public rights of way network. However, in some situations ‘permissive’ routes provide valuable access. Such routes might be preferred by landowners, rather than creating permanent public rights. In some situations, these agreements may be sought.

The council has powers to make changes to the network where these can be shown to be a priority for the community. Routes will be agreed through negotiation, although the council may use compulsory creation powers where there is a demand and other options are not successful.

Multi-user routes can be used by a range of people. The council will seek routes which can be used by the widest range of people as possible. This could include walkers, cyclists, equestrians (horse riders and carriage drivers) and those with mobility impairments. The range of users which a route can provide access for will depend on each individual scheme.

To ensure that the network evolves to meet current and future needs and that connectivity is improved, we will:

• Improve links from urban areas to the countryside (EN3.1)
• Provide new and improved routes from urban areas to the countryside (EN3.1)
• Connect missing links in the public rights of way network, reduce fragmentation and address areas where there is low provision and high need (EN3.1)
• Create the highest status routes possible to provide resources for the widest range of users (EN3.1)
• Seek to resolve ‘dead-end’ and cross-boundary issues as opportunities arise (EN3.2)
• Improve and increase the network available to equestrians, carriage-drivers and motorised vehicle users, addressing fragmentation and improving safety (EN3.3)
• Support projects to increase walking and cycling for short journeys to reduce congestion, support health and wellbeing, reduce air pollution and support economic growth (EN3.4)