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Session 5

CROW ACT 2000 – AccessCountryside and Rights of

Way Act (CROWA)

Kate Ashbrook and Nicola Hodgson

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CROW Act 2000

Public has the right to walk on

all land mapped as open country,

all registered common land outside Inner

London all land over 600 metres

in England and Wales, subject to restrictions and stipulations.

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CROW Act 2000

Open country is land which is ‘wholly or predominantly mountain, moor, heath or down’.

  Much eligible land was omitted due to poor

definitions and poor methodology.  Done differently in England and Wales.

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CROW Act 2000

All maps finally complete in England in 2005 Requirement for a decadal review Completed in Wales this year In England it has been deferred. 

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Constraints on access

 Excepted land Land to which the right does not apply, even

though it may have been mapped as access land.

Defined in schedule 1 part 1 of CROWA. Includes land covered by buildings, used as

park or garden, golf courses etc.

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Constraints

Behaviour If someone misbehaves, eg breaks or

damages a wall, or goes onto excepted land, or ignores a restriction, he becomes a trespasser and may not, within 72 hours, return to that land or any other land in the same ownership.

  The public should follow the countryside

code.

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Constraints

Restrictions Schedule 2 of CROWA sets out general

restrictions, eg no right to drive a vehicle, take any animal other than a dog, commit a criminal offence, light a fire.

  Dogs must be on a short lead (fixed length

and not more than 2 metres) from 1 March to 31 July, and at any time of year in the vicinity of livestock.

 

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Constraints

Chapter 2 of CROWA sets out the various restrictions to access and the regime for them.

 

Eg landowner can restrict access for up to 28 days for any purpose (there is a restriction on the days).

  Restrict to dogs on leads on grouse moors 

Restrict for land management, avoid fire risk or danger to public, nature conservation, defence.

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Schedule 15 land

CROWA does not apply to land which already has rights of access (schedule 15).http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/S15_FAQs_V.1.0_tcm6-26995.pdf

  This includes:

Commons which are subject to section 193 of the Law of Property Act 1925: the pre-existing rights to walk and ride persist.

 

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Schedule 15 land

Commons which have public access by their own private acts, eg Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 which gives the public the right to walk and ride.

On commons subject to a management scheme under the Commons Act 1899, the CROWA extends the rights of local people to the public in general.

  OS maps show access land as a yellow wash,

regardless of whether it is CROW access or not, leaving the public to work out what its rights actually are.

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Section 16 dedication

A landowner can dedicate rights to any land in his ownership. On CROW land he could extend the existing right to walk to include a right to ride or for horse and carriage, for instance.

  On common land this must be by agreement with

the commoners. 

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Section 16 dedication

 

The Forestry Commission has dedicated all its land for access on foot.

The Dartmoor Preservation Association has dedicated rights to ride and to camp on its land at High House Waste (already subject to CROW rights).

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Access Points

CROWA does not require landowners to provide access to access land.

  Access authority (county or unitary authority or

national park authority) can enter land with agreement of owner to open up or improve access, or create new access.

  If can’t reach agreement, access authority may give

notice and do the work. 

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Access Points

If a landowner or occupier obstructs an access and fails to comply with notices served by the authority relating to accesses, the authority can seek a court order.

  The law is weak, as demonstrated at Capel Battery

in Kent.

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Coastal access

In Wales the coastal path was completed in 2012, though improvements still need to be made.

 

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Coastal access

  In England, coastal access is under the Marine and

Coastal Access Act 2009.  Aim to have coastal access right round England by

2020.  Being delivered in stages by Natural England.

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Coastal access: five stages

Stage 1: Prepare - initial preparations for implementation of a coastal stretch.

Stage 2: Develop - open dialogue with local landowners and other legal interests in land that may be affected. Natural England (NE) explains initial thoughts about where the route might go, asks them for their views and discusses issues. NE also discusses with other key organisations and ensures it takes the necessary steps to protect sensitive features.

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Coastal access: five stages

Stage 3: Propose - Secretary of State receives NE’s report of the proposals for coastal access. Anyone can make a representation on the report and owners/occupiers may submit an objection relating to particular aspects of the proposals.

  Stage 4: Determine - Secretary of State decides

whether to approve the proposals in NE’s report based on representations or objections and the recommendations from the Planning Inspectorate.

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Coastal access: five stages

Stage 5: Open - Secretary of State approves the route. Preparations are then made on the ground and the necessary legal paperwork is completed. Once complete, the new public rights of access will come into force on the stretch.

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Coastal access

Coastal access is a combination of a path around the coast (national trail) with access land on the seaward side and on the landward side to the first boundary.

NE identifies the path, then the access land (spreading room)

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Coastal access: how we can be involved

LCs to work with Ramblers and other user groups to decide which is the best route from the walkers’ point of view.

Seek early meeting with NE to press our point of view.

Remain involved throughout the process.

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Access already introduced

Portland to Lulworth, Dorset

Allonby to Whitehaven, Cumbria

North Gare, Hartlepool, to South Bents, Sunderland