ITEM EX10 - ANNEX 1

EXECUTIVE – 27 MAY 2003

VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ON THE RIDGEWAY

1. The Ridgeway was designated by government in 1973 as a Long Distance Path (now called National Trails). It is one of 15 such designated routes that offer continuous walking, cycling or horseriding through our finest scenery.
2. The Ridgeway runs from Overton Hill near Avebury to Ivinghoe Beacon near Tring. As a National Trail it is in essence a ‘concept’ overlaid on a string of individual public rights of way (PRoW), some of ancient origins. The PRoW remain the statutory responsibility of the individual highway authorities (Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire County Councils, West Berkshire Council and Swindon Borough Council).
3. Management of The Ridgeway is co-ordinated through a Management Group consisting of a senior officer from each highway authority and the Countryside Agency. Day to day work is organised through a small team of staff (who also manage the Thames Path National Trail). This team is employed and hosted by OCC and line managed within the Countryside Service. All funding for staff, promotion etc comes from the Countryside Agency. The Agency also fund maintenance work at up to 75%, with the remainder coming from the highway authorities in recognition of their underlying statutory duty.
4. The PRoW making up The Ridgeway cover all classifications: public footpath (on foot); public bridleway (on foot, horseback or bicycle), byway open to all traffic (BOAT) (as bridleway plus carriages and motorised vehicles) and road used as public path (RUPP) (as BOAT but where the vehicular rights are presumed but not proven). However, the National Trail is only concerned with providing for walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
5. In addition to the public rights landowners have private rights to pass along their sections with any vehicle. There are also some residential properties where access can only be gained along the route, which may be based on either public or private rights.
6. Within Oxfordshire all of The Ridgeway following the scarp ridge of the North Wessex Downs is RUPP. The section running north-eastwards from Goring to Chinnor is a mix of RUPP, bridleway and footpath.
7. The Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 adds a further complication as RUPPs are due to be reclassified under the Act as restricted byways at some future date (probably in 2003). This will remove the public right to use ‘mechanically propelled vehicles’. However, it will still be possible for someone to submit evidence that an individual restricted byway should be modified to record it as a full BOAT.
   
   

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