Legislative Information

The Disabled Ramblers works with many Government bodies and national organisations to improve access to the countryside for everyone.

The groups that we have worked with include: DEFRA, Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, MOD, Forestry England, National Trails, National Parks, National Landscapes (was AONB), British Standards Institute, National Trust, British Horse Society and the Ramblers.

While we cannot help in all individual cases, as we do not have sufficient resources, we can offer advice and have put together the following information.

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Getting help

– To learn about rights of way law in England and Wales, you might like to purchase “Rights of Way:  A Guide to Law and Practice” (or “The Blude Book” as it is commonly known).

– The Open Spaces Society fights to protect public rights of way, village greens, commons and all green & open spaces.

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Requesting the removal of an unlawful obstruction to footpaths, bridleways, etc.

– To request that a local highway authority/council removes an obstruction, you can use this form.
The right to serve notice and the notice procedure are outlined in the Highways Act 1980, specifically Section 130A.

— The Open Spaces Society’s information sheet on the process of the Highways Act 1980, Section 130A.
— To find specific information from you local council, you might like to use the GOV.UK’s Report an obstruction on the road page.

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Learning more about “Garland & Salaman v Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs”  

This judgement seems to make it wrong in law to stop lawful use of a Right of Way in order to prevent illegal use. For example, perhaps, with Motorcycle Barriers.

At the end of the Judgement is this:
41.Mr Salaman’s second point was that in practice motorcycles use the route, notwithstanding that they are not entitled to do so, and that they are a menace to pedestrians. I have considerable sympathy with this complaint but the motorcycles are not lawfully there and their presence raises an issue of law enforcement. It is difficult to see how denying bicycles the right to use the route would stop motorcycles, unless the argument is that if bicycles are forbidden to use the track, there is less chance that motorcycles will do so. Even if that is true, however, it cannot possibly be justified to prevent bicycles from taking advantage of what would otherwise be a lawful use of the track in order to inhibit the unlawful use by motorcycles.

Links to see the High Court – Court of Appeal Judgement: [Option 1 – From Disabled Ramblers] [Option 2 – On the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website]

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