Section 12 - Commons, greens and access land

On receiving a consultation from a planning authority (District, Borough, County Councils), or for Forestry, Countryside Stewardship, from the County Development Unit, DEFRA, Land Registry, Mouchel TSC or others, officers should carry out a check to determine whether the area of development affects any PRoW, including:-

• routes crossing the area,
• routes bordering the area,
• routes which may form a strategic or well used link to the area,
• the whole development area (often shown with a red outline on the plans),
• the site of any actual obstructions (buildings, signs, landscaping etc) within the development area,
• opportunities for improvements on other land owned by the applicant (often shown with a blue outline on the plans).

These are logged on a spreadsheet in the Unit and a reply is drafted using one of the standard letters and adjusting any paragraphs to fit the specific site's development. Further information on planning applications relating to 'County Matters' can be found here.

Definitive Map Files

As well as checking the Definitive Map, CAOs must also check to see whether there are any outstanding Evidential Modification Order files or any other Definitive Map files or anomalies.

If there are Definitive Map files or anomalies relating to a Planning Application, then the CAO must:

• write to the planners advising them of this and suggesting that they may wish to make an Order under the Town and Country Planning Act [TCPA] (they can do this if they are satisfied the path exists, even if it is not on the DM)
• notify the appropriate DMO so that if the path is threatened by development it can be re-prioritised accordingly.

Planning Obligations [Highways Act 1980 s106]

The opportunity for HA 80 s106 agreements to be made should be assessed at the earliest stage, so that our comments and requests can be put forward to a developer in time to be taken into account. Officers should assess sites, especially large developments, for their impact in terms of increased or altered use of the network and what provision can be made to address this through a s106 to win improvements and public benefits.

Advice to applicants / developers

Applicants are encouraged to consult the Rights of Way Unit in advance of submitting an application which may affect a public right of way, in order that any proposals can be discussed.

Advice to local planning authorities

Advice to local development control officers and local plan officers will be produced separately.

Advice to highways engineers

A vast number of planning applications are received first by the highways engineers. The engineers adhere to a manual entitled 'Transportation Aspects of Development Control' which contains advice, produced by the Rights of Way Unit, on responding to applications affecting rights of way. The engineers are encouraged to consult the Rights of Way Unit in all instances where the application may affect a public right of way.