The British Horse Society outraged at threat to Lost Ways
project
The British Horse Society today expressed its outrage at
recommendations by Natural England to move away from researching
and claiming individual unrecorded ways.
The BHS believes that "Discovering Lost Ways" still
has the potential to add many much-needed equestrian rights
of way to the Definitive Map.
This is despite the abject failure of Government agencies
in the first seven years of the initiative to add any new
ways to the Definitive Map.
The BHS's Director of Access, Safety and Welfare Mark Weston
said: “We are bitterly disappointed that the recommendation
by Natural England is to scrap the project. This is a kick
in the teeth for horse riders - just like their stance on
coastal access.
"The Discovering Lost Ways Project should have made
a real difference in increasing the mere 28 percent of the
rights of way network that is currently available to horse
riders."
Mr Weston added: "The project was intended to find and
save a huge number of routes like the hundreds of miles of
ancient bridleways and byways that the efforts of our volunteers
have added to the Definitive Map.
"These are now enjoyed not only by equestrians but by
walkers and cyclists as well. But access charities simply
do not have the volunteer time or the money to get all the
unrecorded or underrecorded paths onto the Definitive Map
before the cut-off date. Scrapping the project is very bad
news for the public.”
However, the BHS welcomed the proposal for a fundamental
review of access legislation.
Mr Weston said: “The current system is too time-consuming,
expensive and confrontational and does not provide equestrians
with the routes that they so desperately need now.
"This review needs to be carried out quickly and the
Government needs to demonstrate its commitment to the Horse
Industry Strategy by promising to legislate quickly to make
more riding routes available.
"Otherwise equestrians will have to wait years for any
serious improvement in the provision of more off road riding
routes. And of course the longer the wait, the more accidents
that equestrians will have to suffer from having no alternative
but to use the roads.”
Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, any historic
public rights of way which have not been recorded on the Definitive
Map by 2026 will be extinguished.
Mr Weston added: “The Discovering Lost Ways project
would have preserved much of our highway heritage, some of
which has existed longer than our historic churches and houses,
and much of which is still in use today but not properly recorded.”
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