Agenda item

Gill Millward, DCC Countryside Access Improvement Officer, presented a report to agree the advice which Derbyshire’s Local Access Forums will provide to DCC with regard to the prioritisation of Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) applications in respect of unrecorded rights of way.  The cut off date to register claims had been extended to 2031, but the current government may repeal that.

The Joint LAF Sub-Group have considered how to support the process of registering applications by facilitating people putting claims in.  Nationally there are 8000 plus claims.  The process for these can’t be changed as it is set out in legislation.  The Joint Sub-Group have looked at how claims could be prioritised, as they take a long time to process with limited resources for the work involved.  The proposal is that those routes that benefit more different users should be prioritised.

Summary of Discussion

Prioritising multi user routes was good, but people might be put off submitting other applications, and may class routes as multi user routes to get priority consideration.  DMMOs should be looked at area by area.  Useful links might not get priority.

It is recommended that when considering DMMO applications, priority should be given to those for multi-user unrecorded ways ie claims for bridleway and above. Multi-user routes, whether they are new Rights of Way or upgrades, would benefit the most people and help link up these currently fragmented networks; and giving them priority would fit in with sustainable transport policies. It is also recommended that this new Unrecorded Ways DMMO strategy considers routes in batches by area to reduce duplication.

Recommendation: That Members of the Peak District Local Access Forum approve this set of recommendations and agree that they are conveyed to the County Council in a letter which also raises concerns about the lack of resources which are currently available for dealing with this area of work.

Action: The Peak District LAF to respond as per the recommendation