§ 31. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she has made in identifying and mapping public rights of way under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. [13095]
§ Alun MichaelThe Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a cut-off date in 25 years time for the recording of certain rights of way on definitive maps and the extinguishment of those not so recorded by that date. In order to ensure that the definitive maps are as complete as possible by this date, we have asked the Countryside Agency to consider ways of co-ordinating the efforts of user groups in researching any, as yet, undiscovered rights of way.
The Countryside Agency is currently in phase 1 of this project, which will assess the scale of the task. The contractors (made up of a consortium led by Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education) will be consulting all interested parties on the best way of supporting the research and on providing information and training. The aim is that by spring 2002 the Agency will have sufficient information to put in place a mechanism for managing grant aid to provide support and training and for undertaking research.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 does not include a separate requirement to identify and map public rights of way. Definitive maps of public rights of way were first required to be produced under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, 1949. They are the responsibility of the local highway authority who (under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981) have a duty to keep the definitive map and statement under continuous review and to make such modifications as they deem necessary.