Local Ramblers, working in partnership with Guisborough Bridleways Group, and with technical support from central office staff, have succeeded in establishing public status for a bridleway at Lockwood, near Guisborough, Redcar and Cleveland, at the northern end of the North York Moors. It's a mile and a half (2.1km) long, along a disused railway line. It directly links Boosbeck with Slapewath, providing a significant addition to the bridleway network; and for walkers it opens up a superb additional circular walk for all.
It was as a result of evidence supplied by the Guisborough Bridleways Group and by John Birtill of the Ramblers that the order was made. The evidence was of upwards of 20 years use by the public on foot and on horseback.
But, this is a longer story than is usual. There was a public inquiry because the landowner objected, having during the 20-year period lodged certain documents with the council to demonstrate that he had no intention to dedicate. He did that in 1995.
Normally the 20 years is counted backwards from the deposit of those documents. But the council somehow lost the documents, and, since they could not therefore have come to the attention of the public, the Inspector acting for the Secretary of State decided that the public's right to use the path was not challenged until the landowner erected a "No Horses" sign in 2001. So that made 20 years' use, said the Inspector, from 1981 to 2001 -- scuppered by the documents of 1995, even though the council could not find them. So, he did not confirm the order as 20 years' use could not be shown. This bemused the applicants, who were sure that it was not the intention of Parliament that the legislation was meant to allow claims to be defeated by evidence they knew nothing about.
They referred the matter to central office, where staff saw at once that the Inspector had misapplied the law as laid down by the law lords in our Godmanchester case. If the lost documents could not count as questioning the public's right to use the path for the purpose of setting the 20-year period, then so neither could they count as evidence scuppering the claim by showing the absence of an intention to dedicate. There is meant to be symmetry between the two concepts.
The matter was referred to Ramblers lawyers; who took Counsel's Opinion; Counsel agreed with the Ramblers -- we then brought an action for judicial review in the High Court to have the Secretary of State's decision quashed. In the end, DEFRA lawyers saw that we were right, and caved in, i.e, "submitted to judgment", agreeing that the Secretary of State's decision should be quashed by the High Court without them contesting it at a hearing.
So it went back to inquiry again. The Guisborough Bridleways Group provided most of the evidence, while John Birtill of the Ramblers made a learned submission (with staff input) about how the deposited documents should be treated. This time, the Inspector (a different one) very properly found that since the documentation had been improperly executed, it should count for nothing: so the point about symmetry did not arise. That made us right, and so she confirmed the order.
