Thanks for your interest in the Footpath Guardian scheme! By joining the hundreds of people across England and Wales who've already registered as Footpath Guardians you'll be playing an important role in the protection of a national treasure - our rights of way network - today and for generations to come.
All walkers do their bit to protect public paths - by walking them from time to time and reporting any problems they find to the relevant highway authority (i.e. the county council or unitary authority). Footpath Guardians take this important act one step further by promising to follow up path problem reports and, if the problem remains, pursue the matter with the responsible highway authority.
Footpath Guardians receive regular updates on the progress of the scheme, and have access to advice and support from the Ramblers' staff. Taking part requires no specialist knowledge and can be done whenever you've got a bit of spare time; so what are you waiting for? Sign up now!
To get started you'll first need to register as a Footpath Guardian. When you've registered you'll be emailed your own personal Footpath Guardian number, which you'll need to report any problems you come across whilst walking.
More information on the types of path problems you may encounter can be found here, and further information and resources can be found in our Footpath Guardian Toolkit.
Highway authorities are responsible for maintaining rights of way, but they don’t always have the resources to continuously check the state of the network. Walkers help by bringing problems to the attention of authorites; If an authority doesn’t know about a problem, it can’t put it right!
Other reasons why it's important to report problems include:
- Demonstrating that a path is being used (this can help defeat closure applications made on the ground that a path is unecessary).
- Drawing attention to problems encountered by disabled people or parents using pushchairs for children.
- Raising the profile of a seasonal problem that impedes use of the rights of way network (e.g. ploughing and cropping).
To find out more about the Footpath Guardian scheme contact the Walking Environment Team.
