Enforcement Procedure
From GPG
Enforcement is a key element in the role of Public Rights of Way Officers. The prosecution of an individual is a serious business and demands a high level of professionalism, indeed the same level of professionalism that would be expected of other enforcement agencies such as Trading Standards, Environmental Health or the Police. It is also important that PROW Officers strive to achieve the same levels of professionalism as other groups carrying out enforcement within the authority.
Hertfordshire County Council
Herts has a flowchart describing the procedure for enforcement under the Highways Act 1980 s130A as amended by CROWs63.
Kent County Council
Kent County Council's Enforcement Policy and Procedure (updated 2010) draws together its enforcement protocol with examples of practice; including blank documents/ forms and advice on contacting the Rural Payments Agency.
Another View (source unknown)
Why have an enforcement procedure?
Path users can encounter a variety of problems when using the county's rights of way network. These range from the lack of a signpost to a crop growing across a path or even, perhaps, a development constructed illegally on a path. Many of these problems are caused by landowners or occupiers, unintentionally or otherwise, and not only cause great frustration to the users but also encourage trespass off the path.
The highway authority has a duty to ensure all public rights of way are kept free of obstructions at all times and so sometimes we have to take action against landowners or occupiers.
Where we have to take action against landowners or occupiers to resolve path problems, we think it is only fair to state our procedure publicly. This procedure refers to the most common types of offence committed on rights of way.
Who approved the procedure?
The highway authority's first enforcement procedure was approved by the Environment Committee in October 1994 and this has now been updated following a review of the Rights of Way Service in March 1999. The procedure is approved in consultation with the Rights of Way Liaison Group, which includes representatives from landowning and farming communities as well as user groups.
Does it apply to me?
The procedure applies to any landowner or occupier who is responsible for a problem on a right of way. The severity of the enforcement depends on the attitude of the landowner or occupier to his/her responsibilities. We work well with most landowners and occupiers in the county and would not initiate the procedure against them over a minor problem providing it is quickly resolved; however, persistent offenders can expect rigorous enforcement action up to and including prosecution.
What types of enforcement action are there?
Enforcement ranges from a standard letter asking you to do something by a certain time, or a legal notice that can incur costs for the landowner or occupier, up to a formal caution or prosecution.
Can you explain the procedure?
The procedure depends on the type of offence committed, and is geared to the service of a legal notice (referred to as 'notice' in this leaflet) and the reclamation of all costs incurred from the landowner or occupier. The legal basis for action described here is the Highways Act 1980.
An offence may be too serious, or the landowner's or occupier's track record too poor, to be dealt with through the notice process and this procedure will not affect our powers to take more serious action.
There are three main types of offence committed on rights of way:
- Failure to restore the surface of a cross-field footpath or bridleway, or the obstruction of a path by crops.
- The disturbance of field-edge (headland) paths and byways.
- Other obstructions.
1. Failure to restore the surface or obstruction by crops
The Highways Act 1980 only allows the ploughing or other disturbance of the surface of a cross-field footpath or bridleway for agricultural purposes, where this cannot be reasonably avoided. The surface must then the restored to a condition suitable for the path's designated use within 14 days of the initial disturbance or 24 hours of any subsequent disturbance. The line of the path must always be marked out clearly and either operation must be completed over its minimum width (see below).
Where a crop other than grass has been sown or planted on any agricultural land, the occupier must also take steps, as and when necessary, to make sure that:
- the line of the path is apparent to anyone wishing to use it
- the path remains convenient to use at all times.
Crops that fall in, such as oil seed rape, should be cleared beyond the minimum width for the paths (see below) to ensure the minimum width is clear at all times.
The procedure
When a surface offence comes to the attention of the highway authority, the following procedure will be implemented:
If you have not been contacted about a rights of way offence within the last three years, you will be contacted by a rights of way officer and advised of your obligations.
A follow-up letter will be sent giving you a time limit before re-inspection.
If you do not complete the necessary work within the time limit, a notice will be drawn up and a groundwork team engaged to do the work.
If on final inspection the path still does not comply with the Act, the notice will be served and the groundwork team and council officers will attend site no earlier than 24 hours later and any outstanding works will be completed.
If you commit a further rights of way offence within a three-year period of being contacted by the Rights of Way Office about any rights of way offence on your land, notice may be served without further communication or more serious enforcement taken.
A note on widths: Unless a path already has a legally awarded width, which the Rights of Way Office can advise, the minimum and maximum widths for footpaths, bridleways and byways on agricultural land apply:
Footpath Bridleway Byway - Cross field 1 m-1.8 m 2 m-3 m 3 m-5 m, Field edge 1.5 m-1.8 m 3 m (min.-max.) 3 m-5 m
The highway authority can enforce between the minimum and maximum widths.
2. The disturbance of field-edge paths and byways
There is no right whatsoever to disturb the surface of a field-edge (headland) path, nor may any part of a byway be disturbed, regardless of where it runs.
The procedure
Where a field-edge or byway first offence comes to the attention of the highway authority, the following procedure will apply:
Where the surface of a headland path has been disturbed but it is still convenient for the public to use and you have not been contacted about a rights of way offence within the last four years, you will be given the opportunity to reinstate the path. This will be done by seeding with suitable grass seed in the spring or autumn, whichever comes sooner following the offence.
If the path is not convenient to use you will be given a short period of time to restore the surface prior to 1 above.
Failure to reinstate the path under either 1 or 2 above will result in a notice being drawn up by the highway authority to make good the damage and a groundwork team will be engaged to do the work.
If on final inspection the path is not considered satisfactory for use, notice will be served and the groundwork team and council staff will attend site no earlier than 24 hours from the time of serving notice.
Any further offence on the same or any other path on your land within a four-year period may result in the serving of a notice without prior warning, or more serious enforcement action.
Recovery of costs for 1 and 2
Once notice has been served, the highway authority will recover all costs associated with it including officer time, travel and administration as well as any groundwork team's costs. Even if you do the work between the notice and a groundwork team attending site, costs will be recovered including those of the groundwork teams and council officers who need to verify the state of the path and complete any work outstanding. The charge for any notice under A or B above is unlikely to be less than £150.
3. Other obstructions
The highway authority has the power to serve notice on landowners or occupiers to ensure obstructions and other nuisances are removed from public rights of way. These notices give the landowner or occupier a period of time to undertake the works. The highway authority will serve notice wherever it feels it is necessary to ensure the speedy resolution of a problem. Examples of obstructions and nuisances are:
- materials deposited on the highway
- projections from buildings
- overhanging vegetation
- poorly maintained gates and stiles
- restriction by the planting of trees
- soil being washed onto the path
- water discharging onto the path
- barbed wire
- electric and other fences
- structures
- cattle grids
Any landowner or occupier who needs to excavate or carry out an engineering operation on agricultural land which affects a right of way must contact the Rights of Way Office for authorisation.
Recovery of costs for 3.
Failure to comply with the notice will result in the highway authority or a contractor completing the works and the subsequent recovery of all costs, including officer time, travel and administration as well as contractors' costs, from the landowner or occupier.
