Reports for a site with a public footpath running through it

A recorded public right of way is a highway, and granting planning permission does not move it, extinguish it or authorise building over it. Public right of way development reports therefore start with one question: what does the definitive map say, and does the development need the line changed. If it does, a diversion order runs on its own timetable and usually becomes the longest item on the programme.

Build the order into the critical path from day one. Schemes that treat it as a condition to be sorted later lose a construction season.

Checking the definitive map and the recorded status

The definitive map and statement are held by the surveying authority, which is the county council or the unitary authority rather than the district in two tier areas. The map records the line. The statement records the status, the width where it has been recorded, and any limitations such as stiles or gates.

Status governs what the public may do and therefore what you have to design for. A footpath carries rights on foot. A bridleway adds horse and bicycle. A restricted byway adds non-mechanically propelled vehicles. A byway open to all traffic carries vehicular rights, which changes the engineering entirely.

Four checks before you draw anything:

1. Obtain an extract of the definitive map and the relevant statement entry, not a screenshot of an online leisure map.
2. Ask whether any modification order applications are outstanding on or near the site, because a claimed route can be added later with effect from historic use.
3. Walk the route and compare what is on the ground with the recorded line. They diverge more often than people expect, and the recorded line is the one that matters in law.
4. Check for any unrecorded routes that may have acquired rights through use, and for permissive paths that have not.

Where the path only touches the boundary rather than crossing the site, the analysis in our guide to schemes affecting a public right of way covers the lighter case.

Whether the path can be diverted or must be retained

National policy expects planning decisions to protect and enhance public rights of way and access, and to look for opportunities to improve the network. That is not a prohibition on diversion. It does mean a diversion that makes the route longer, less direct, less attractive or enclosed between fences will be resisted.

Retention on the existing line is the strongest position. Where the line runs through a proposed building, the realistic options are a short diversion around the footprint, incorporation of the route into an estate street or shared surface with public rights preserved, or a diversion onto a better alignment with a wider corridor, better surfacing and better connections than the original.

Think about what the path is for. A route that forms part of a commuter desire line between a village and a station is a different proposition from a field edge path that goes nowhere, and an authority will weigh the two differently.

The order process and its timescale

Two routes exist and they are not interchangeable.

Under section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the local planning authority may make an order stopping up or diverting a path where it is necessary to do so to enable development to be carried out in accordance with a planning permission. That is the development route and it needs the permission to exist first, or at least to be in place before confirmation.

Under section 119 of the Highways Act 1980, the council may make a public path diversion order in the interests of the owner, lessee or occupier of the land, or of the public. That route does not depend on a planning permission and is sometimes used first where the landowner wants certainty.

Either way the process is the same shape. The order is made, advertised in a local newspaper, posted at each end of the affected length and served on prescribed consultees including the relevant national user bodies and the parish council. There is a statutory objection period. If no objection is sustained, the authority can confirm the order itself. If an objection stands, the order goes to the Secretary of State and is decided by written representations, a hearing or an inquiry.

Unopposed orders are commonly measured in months. Opposed orders can take a year or more, and an order refused at inquiry leaves the scheme undeliverable. A condition preventing development on the affected land until the order is confirmed is the usual mechanism, and it is a condition worth drafting carefully so it does not block the whole site.

Temporary closure during construction

A path that stays on its line still cannot be left open through a construction site. Temporary closure is obtained under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, applied for from the highway authority, and is limited in duration with any extension needing the Secretary of State's agreement.

Apply early and apply for a realistic period. Authorities charge for the order and for advertising, and a closure that expires mid-programme has to be re-advertised. The application should include the signed diversion route, its surfacing and width, the fencing arrangements, and how the route will be kept lit and usable in winter.

Obstructing a public right of way without lawful authority is an offence under the Highways Act 1980, and the fact that you hold planning permission is not a defence. Contractors fencing a compound across a footpath on a Monday morning is one of the most common enforcement complaints authorities receive.

Layout, surveillance and path design

The design points that decide whether a diverted route is accepted are consistent.

Give the route a corridor rather than a width. A two metre path between two close boarded fences is an alleyway, and it will attract objections on safety grounds. A three metre or wider corridor with soft margins, overlooked by habitable rooms rather than by garage doors and rear fences, reads as a street rather than a gap between fences.

Then deal with the detail. Gradients and surfacing suitable for the recorded status, including bound surfacing where the route is urban and unbound where it is rural and used by horses. No gates or barriers unless they existed and are justified. Lighting where the route is urban, with a lighting design that does not conflict with bat commuting routes, which is the balance covered in a Lighting Assessment. Clear sight lines at junctions with estate streets. Signage and waymarking at both ends.

Where the path runs along a hedgerow or treeline, the ecological and arboricultural constraints will shape the corridor more than the highway standards do, in the same way that a buried main dictates layout in our note on a site crossed by a public sewer.

Conditions and obligations that follow

Expect a condition preventing development of the affected land until the diversion order is confirmed and the new route is available, a condition requiring the route to remain open or a signed alternative to be provided during construction, and approval of the surfacing and lighting details.

Obligations tend to cover the cost side. The authority will normally want its order and advertising costs met, a commuted sum for future maintenance where the specification exceeds the ordinary standard, and sometimes a contribution to wider network improvements. Where the route will be adopted as part of an estate street, the highway agreement does that work instead.

The document set to submit

For a site crossed by a recorded path, the submission usually includes a Planning Statement, a Design and Access Statement that addresses the route explicitly, a rights of way plan showing the recorded line, the proposed line and the construction phase arrangement, a Transport Statement or Transport Assessment covering walking and cycling connectivity, a Landscape Strategy for the corridor, a Lighting Assessment, an Arboricultural Impact Assessment where boundary trees are affected, a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal with the hedgerow and linear habitat assessment it triggers, and a Construction Traffic Management Plan that shows the temporary route.

Add the draft order plan. Officers reviewing the application will want to see that the diversion you are describing is the one the order will deliver. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which of the 66 reports a site with a recorded path is likely to need.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.