Agenda item

To consider the application for the addition of a Public Right of Way along a route know as Manor Drive in the parish of Middlewich.

The Committee considered a report which detailed an application made by Mr John Bayley on behalf of the Middlewich Public Rights of Way Group to amend the Definitive Map and Statement by adding a public right of way along a route known as Manor Drive, between Nantwich Road (A530) and Kerridge Close, in the parish of Middlewich.

Under section 53 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Council had a duty to keep the Definitive Map and Statement under continuous review and make such modifications to the Map and Statement as appear requisite in consequence of the occurrence of certain events.  The event relevant to his application is Section 53(3)(c)(i):

“(c) the discovery by the authority of evidence which (when considered with all other relevant evidence available to them) shows:-

(i) that a right of way which is not shown in the map and statement subsists or is reasonably alleged to subsist over land in the area to which the map relates...”

The evidence could consist of documentary evidence or user evidence or a mixture of both. 

The application had been submitted in November 2018 for the addition a bridleway along a route known as Manor Drive in the parish of Middlewich and had been made on the basis of user evidence from ten users, submitted with the application, and 2 further forms submitted later.  Although the application stated it was for the addition of a bridleway, Officers considered that the evidence suggested that the status should be that of Restricted Byway.  An additional route between Manor Drive and Buckley Close has also been considered as part of the application, based on user evidence.

Mr John Bayley addressed the Committee and stated that the application had been made because the Middlewich Guardian on 24 August 2017 had printed an article which said that the owners of Manor Lodge wanted to gate the driveway to stop residents from using it as a thoroughfare into Middlewich or on to the canal.  The route  had been used as a link into Middlewich to visit the cemetery, doctors surgery and shops in Middlewich for well over twenty years and the alternative route was a mile longer in length. The owners of Manor Lodge had removed the original gatepost and had relocated them further forward and built walls which they did not have permission to do so.

Mrs Samantha Richards addressed the Committee and informed them that they were not questioning the public right of way, and having listened to public opinion, had decided against installing a gate between the posts but wanted the gateposts to remain as they had been erected to stop lorries turning around outside their home causing damage. 

The report before the Committee detailed the investigation carried out into the application and concluded that the user evidence submitted demonstrated regular, continuous and long term use of the claimed route on foot and bicycle.  The documentary evidence showed that the route of Manor Drive had beenin existence for over a hundred years, most likely since the Manor Hall was built.  The historical documents showed that route A-B-C on Plan No.WCA/021 was historically used as private access to the Hall.  The nature and purpose of the use of the route then changed with the development of the area from the 1970s onwards. The section of the route between B-C and between points B-D was owned by Cheshire East Council and public use of this section was not disputed.  The user evidence showed that use, on both foot and bicycle, had been uninterrupted for a fully twenty year periodbetween 1996 and 2016 in the case of route A-B-C without challenge, permission or secrecy and in the case of B-D between 1997 and 2017.

The Committee considered the user evidence submitted and the Definitive Map Officer’s conclusion and considered that there was sufficient user evidence to support the existence of restricted byway rights along routes A-B-C and B-D.  The issue of the gateposts was outside the remit of the Committee and they hoped that a resolution could be found that would satisfy both the owners and path users.  The Committee considered that, on the balance of probabilities, the requirements of Section 53(3)(c)(i) had been met and that the Definitive Map and Statement should be modified to add the two restricted byways in the parish of Middlewich.

The Committee unanimously

RESOLVED: That

1          an Order be made under Section 53(3)(c)(i) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to modify the Definitive Map and Statement by adding as Restricted Byways the routes shown between points A-B-C and B-D on Plan No. WCA/021.

2          Public Notice of the making of the Order be given and, in the event of there being no objections within the specified period, or any objections received being withdrawn, the Order be confirmed in exercise of the power conferred on the Council by the said Acts.

3          in the event of objections to the Order being received, Cheshire East Borough Council be responsible for the conduct of any hearing or public inquiry.