Not all unsurfaced highways are robust enough for use by motor vehicles. Ruts and mud, for example, can make them difficult or impossible for cycling...
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Use of recreational motor vehicles and tractors on unsurfaced highways can cause considerable damage, particularly on badly drained earth surfaces. This can lead to deep ruts and mud, making the route unusable by cyclists and other non-motorised users.
Noisy vehicles are a public nuisance, so strategies should be developed to prevent their use in the countryside.
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
CTC accepts that licenced recreational motor vehicles (2 & 4 wheel) have a legal right to use BOATs and UUCRs.
Not all of these highways, however, are robust enough for use by motor vehicles, so they should be managed to avoid stirring up mud and creating ruts.
Cyclists and other non-motorised users go to the countryside for quiet recreation. Unmanaged motorised use of unsurfaced highways is incompatible with this, particularly where these vehicles, especially motorcycles, are inadequately silenced.
If, after a reasonable time, voluntary management fails to remedy a damaged highway, or is not implemented, then a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) should be sought to prevent motorised vehicular use.
The police should implement robust policies to discourage illegal use by unlicenced and/or unsilenced vehicles.
Use by tractors as part of agricultural or forestry practice can also be extremely damaging, and where this occurs the Highway Authority (HA) and landowner/tenant should agree on measures to allow unimpeded use by cycles.
Where, following extensive discussions, an HA fails to maintain a highway that is ‘out of repair’, then, if the route is an important link, consideration should be given to serving the authority with a Highways Act section 561 notice requiring them to repair it suitably.
What is a Boat? A byway open to all traffic is a highway open to all classes of traffic including motor vehicles. It may not be maintained to the same standard as an ordinary road.
What is an UUCR? An unsurfaced, unclassified road is repairable by the local authority, but access rights may not be clear and subject to dispute. It is ‘unclassified’ because it has not been categorised as an A, B or C road.
Paths alongside canals and rivers can provide attractive and useful motor-traffic free routes for utility and recreational cycling...
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Cycling is welcomed alongside the canals and rivers managed by the Canal and River Trust (England and Wales) and by Scottish Canals. This widens the choice of motor traffic-free routes open to cyclists for commuting, recreational and other purposes.
CTC encourages responsible use of towpaths and river paths. However, concerns about possible conflict with other users are often based on negative perceptions, rather than on reality. Genuine safety problems can often be managed through codes of conduct and suitable design solutions.
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
CTC welcomes the decision by the Canal and River Trust to allow considerate cyclists to ride along most of the length of its towpaths. These routes are a valuable motor traffic-free facility both for utility and recreational cycling, and national and local government should view them as an important part of the strategic transport network.
Codes of conduct help promote courtesy and understanding between users.
There is little evidence to support the view that cycling on towpaths creates excessive hazards to walkers or to cyclists themselves.
All towpaths should remain open to cyclists along their entire length, unless there are insuperable safety issues that can only be avoided with restrictions.
There should be no need to apply for a permit or be charged for cycling along a towpath. CTC therefore strongly welcomes the Trust’s decision to allow cyclists to use its towpaths without permits.
To help facilitate cycling, towpaths and river paths should have good surfacing and drainage.
There is little evidence to support the view that cycling is any more damaging to towpaths or river paths than walking.
Scotland's Land Reform Act has opened up the countryside for walking and cycling. The rest of the UK should follow its example...
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The Land Reform Act gives Scotland the most progressive access arrangements in the UK. The public has lawful access to most land and inland water, provided they act responsibly in accord with the guidance in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code (also for land managers).
The Act’s clear and consensual approach to improving public access and resolving disputes should be a model for other parts of the UK to follow.
Improving cycle access to the countryside is highly beneficial to public health and the economy: the 7Stanes mountain bike trails helped create 205 full time equivalent jobs in southern Scotland and brought in over £9 million in visitor spend in 2007.
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
CTC strongly supports this legislation and its outcomes.
The new networks of ‘Core Paths’ are important not only for leisure cycling but also for cycle travel for utility purposes. Investment in healthy outdoor activities and in more sustainable ways of making journeys is vital, both locally, and in delivering on national aims for a healthier and more sustainable society.
If monitoring shows that local authorities are not implementing their Core Path Plans voluntarily, the Scottish Government should consider revising the law to make it a legal duty.
There should be better integration of cycle routes created under the legal framework for access and those created under roads legislation.
Increased recreational cycling and its promotion through off-road access, plus the provision of Core and Longer Distance Paths, is potentially highly beneficial for the economy.
Measures should be taken to remove locked gates and other barriers that are still preventing access for cycling through some landownerships.
Problems that arise from sharing paths should be resolved by Local Access Officers and Local Access Forums, many of which have CTC members on them.
Similar legislation should be adopted in the rest of the UK.
By law, local authorities must develop Rights of Way Improvement Plans (RoWIPs). The plans are a good way of improving opportunities for cycling off-road...
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Rights of Way Improvement Plans (RoWIPs) should seek to boost the quantity and quality of routes and open spaces for recreational and off-road cycling, and ensure that these opportunities are well signed, maintained and promoted.
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
There is currently a considerable, suppressed demand for traffic-free off-road cycling routes, especially close to where people live. Provision for family cycling is particularly poor. RoWIPs offer opportunities to improve off-road cycling provision. To maximise the benefits of cycling, the delivery of RoWIPs should:
Be informed by a survey of the off-road cycling network to identify gaps and implement improvements
Promote, sign and maintain routes for cyclists
As resources are likely to be limited, RoWIPs benefit from the input of volunteers working through the Local Access Forum (LAF) and in conjunction with local authority staff.
Bridleways and byways need to be kept clear of obstructions and in a good state of repair, so that cyclists can enjoy their off-road rides...
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Obstructions, poor surfaces, bad drainage and rank vegetation often make the bridleway and byway network in lowland England and Wales difficult for cyclists to use. It also puts people off the healthy and enjoyable activity of riding in the countryside.
‘Out of repair’ paths
Paths become ‘out of repair’ if they are badly drained or rutted, have a slippery surface, where bridges are unusable or hazardous or where surface vegetation impedes progress.
Highway authorities have a duty to ensure that their public highways, including rights of way, are maintained in a state appropriate for the sort of traffic reasonably expected to use it. If an authority fails to maintain a path properly, there is a legal process (Section 56 of the Highways Act 1980) that any member of the public can use to force them into action.
Obstructions
Obstructions on rights of way may be illegal, hazardous and disrupt journeys made by cycle.
It is the landowner’s responsibility to remove unlawful obstructions; highway authorities have to ensure that rights of way are not obstructed; and any member of the public has the power to compel an authority to act if they fail to do so (Sections 130A to D of the Highways Act 1980).
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
Highway authorities should prioritise bridleways, byways, restricted byways and unsurfaced unclassified roads in their rights of way management and maintenance regimes. This is because these are multi-user routes, available to cyclists, horse riders and walkers.
Hedgerow legislation should be strengthened to prevent the removal of field boundaries alongside bridleways, as the bridleway then becomes ‘cross field’ and may be ploughed.
Where cross field paths are regularly ploughed, an uncultivated headland alternative should be made available.
Highway authorities should make sure that rights of way that go through fields are clearly signed to stop users encountering any obstructions that are not on the path.
Find out why it's important to open up more of the rights of way network for cycling, what the legal process is and how it needs improving...
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Only 30% of the public rights of way in England and Wales is available to cyclists. The network is extremely fragmented and there is an urgent need to fill in the gaps to make it more attractive for healthy and enjoyable outdoor activities such as cycling.
‘Statutory Orders’ can be used to expand the network of paths legally available for cycling in the countryside. Different types of Order can: modify an authority’s definitive map and statement in the case of errors or omissions; create, extinguish or divert rights of way; or regulate or prohibit cycling or motor traffic on the highway.
CTC View (formal statement of CTC's policy):
Map Modification Orders (MMOs)
Highway authorities should make resources available to ensure that the definitive map accurately represents the full bridleway and byway network before the ‘cut off date’ of 1 January 2026.
CTC will normally oppose moves to downgrade or delete bridleways and byways, and support upgrading or creating them.
As the current system is overly resource-intensive, the Government and its agencies should take steps to develop and implement more effective ways of making and confirming Orders.
Public Path Orders (PPOs)
The needs of residents, landowners and businesses should be sympathetically considered whenever they want to make reasonable diversions around residential properties or farm buildings, or alter the line of a path so that it goes round the edge of field (headland), rather than across it (cross field).
If, however, the diversion means that cyclists would suffer a loss of amenity, or usability (e.g. longer and/or steeper routes, poorer surfaces etc), CTC is unlikely to support the proposal.
CTC will, however, normally oppose any proposed downgrades (e.g. downgrading a bridleway to a footpath that cyclists can no longer use).
Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs)
Wherever possible, CTC will liaise with highway authorities to seek alternative solutions to TROs on byways, bridleways or unsurfaced roads.
CTC will normally oppose any regular renewal of a temporary TRO, because remedies to deal with the problem in question should be the priority.
CTC, the national cycling charity, is helping to support a forthcoming attempt by the Forestry Commission to beat the world record for the largest tree-hug due to take place at Delamere Forest on Sunday 11 September.
The event is part of the Forestry Discovery Day which takes place at 28 forestry sites.
CTC, the national cycling charity with 67,000 members, is the oldest and largest cycling body in the UK, established in 1878. CTC provides a comprehensive range of services, advice, events and protection for its members and works to promote cycling by raising public and political awareness of cycling's health, social and environmental benefits. Visit www.ctc.org.uk.
Forestry Commission England is the government department responsible in England for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woods and forests and increasing their value to society and the environment. Forestry makes a real contribution to sustainable development, providing social and environmental benefits arising from planting and managing attractive, as well as productive, woodlands. Further information can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk/england.
A doubling of cycling use in 10 years, coupled with a halving the in risks of cycling, would generate economic benefits of £3.5 billion and save 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC): A company limited by guarantee, registered in England no.25185. Registered as a charity in England and Wales No 1147607 and in Scotland No SC042541
CTC Charitable Trust: A company limited by guarantee, registered in England no.5125969. Registered as a charity in England and Wales No 1104324 and Scotland No SC038626
