§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what advantages he considers will arise from amendments taking place to the definitive map of public rights of way on a continuous basis rather than once every 10 years as proposed by the Association of County Councils; and what additional cost to local government he considers this will entail.
§ Mr. MonroOur proposals will ensure that changes necessary to definitive maps arising from the discovery of evidence can be given immediate effect by means of amendment orders. It is not possible to forecast the cost to local government since this will depend on the number of orders made which in turn will partly depend on the number of paths local authorities choose to include in each order.
§ Mr. Pawseyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment why there is no provision for written representations to be made on changes to the definitive map of public rights of way in his consultation paper; and whether he considers that such a provision would save local government expenditure.
§ Mr. MonroThe discovery of evidence of public rights of way is often a complex matter frequently involving a number of people. As such it does not readily lend itself to written representation procedures which have never been available for this purpose. Although there could be come saving in local government expenditure it is not considered 175W that this would be such as to warrant changing well established practices.