Fully developed areas could also be excluded by resolution of county councils.ġ.5. The Act covered England but there were some areas, notably the administrative county of London and those of county boroughs, in respect of which there was a choice of whether to adopt the relevant provisions. These were originally prepared under Part IV of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Some 140,000 miles of the Rights of Way network are recorded on definitive maps in England. This Advice Note should only be regarded as a basic guide to, rather than an authoritative interpretation of, the law on public rights of way, it is publicly available but has no legal force.ġ.4. The Advice Note also includes three appendices Appendix 1 gives various statutory definitions of rights of way, Appendix 2 provides a definition of local authorities in the context of the relevant legislation and Appendix 3 sets out relevant primary and secondary legislation and guidance.ġ.3. The relevant criteria which an Inspector needs to consider in determining an opposed order are set out at section 6 of Guidance on Considering Objections to Definitive Map and Public Path Orders in England.ġ.2. Information may also be found in ‘A guide to Definitive Maps and changes to Public Rights of Way’ published by Natural England (revised October 2008). Further guidance on rights of way orders can be found in Department for Environment Circular 1/09 sections 4 and 5. The purpose of this Advice Note is to provide some general background information on public rights of way and some of the various types of rights of way orders which are submitted to the Secretary of State (SoS) for confirmation.

Devil backbone highway