§ Viscount Merseyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the effect of Section 56 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is that the route of a footpath as shown on a definitive map, there being no indication of the route of the path in the statement, replaces the original route of the path over which the public formerly had a right of way.
The Earl of LindsayUnder Section 56 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, definitive maps and statements are conclusive evidence of the rights they record. However, the recording of those rights is without prejudice to any others which might exist, and unrecorded rights are not extinguished merely through not being shown.
The procedures specified in the 1981 Act for reviewing definitive maps and statements recognise that errors may occur. If a surveying authority is presented with, or discovers evidence of such an error, it may need to make an order under Section 53, modifying the map and/or statement, to correct it.