Dorset residents, landowners and visitors are being asked for their views and ideas to help shape the next Dorset Rights of Way Improvement Plan.
The Dorset Rights of Way Improvement Plan is the prime means for Dorset council, as the Local Highway Authority, to identify and prioritise actions to develop and improve the network of Dorset’s footpaths, bridleways, byways, and wider access routes.
Over the past 18 months, more Dorset residents than ever have found that getting outdoors and into the fresh air comforting, restorative and revitalising. To do this, many have used Dorset Public Rights of Way, footpaths, bridleways and byways to walk, ride, cycle, off-road and horse carriage drive to explore our locality. Some have perhaps discovered paths and places they haven’t visited before, immersing themselves in Dorset’s stunning landscapes, rich heritage, and fascinating natural world.
The Dorset Rights of Way Improvement Plan consultation – which includes online maps – will help us understand the key issues that need to be addressed, and let people submit location-specific concerns and project ideas to help us improve Dorset’s public rights of way.
The survey will allow respondents to: –
- Highlight a “missing link” where a new path would join up the network.
- Identify a strategic route linking communities that could be shared by walkers, equestrians & cyclists
- Explore the possibility of creating a safe off-road route where walkers, equestrians and cyclists currently must use the road
- Pinpoint good locations to improve a path’s surface, replace stiles with gates and generally indicate where small measures can potentially make a big impact
- Suggest areas where better signage would be useful
- Raise concerns and how they might be addressed
- Reveal historic details such as old stiles and river crossings that need protecting
- Let us know how we might work together on ideas and initiatives.
While we may not be able to accommodate all the ideas and projects in the prioritised delivery plans, all feedback will be taken into consideration.
Councillor Noc Lacey-Clarke, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment, Travel and Harbours at Dorset Council, said:
“Using public rights of way – the green highways – enables people to get outside and truly explore Dorset’s villages, towns and wider countryside.
The benefits are huge where an improved path network can provide car-free walking riding and cycling routes for all ages and abilities at a “community pace” for local journeys; to get out, meet and socialise with local people; opportunities to step out from your doorstep and keep active, relax and unwind; a means to take time to explore and notice the details that we often overlook. Our paths help us all to experience Dorset’s rich and varied natural and historic heritage.
Taking part in this survey is a real opportunity for Dorset people to let us know what they feel works and what needs to be done to improve the way our residents and visitors can enjoy walking, cycling and horse-riding whilst taking care to protect the very landscapes these paths take them through.”
After collating and reviewing the feedback from the consultation, Dorset Council officers will draft a new Rights of Way Improvement Plan early next year. This plan will be publicly consulted on in the Spring, with the final version published and presented to Cabinet for approval in Summer 2022.
Please fill in the questionnaire and online maps here by midnight 31 October.
A great opportunity to connect up bridleways. Let’s make possible to ride, cycle or walk safely across the county without risking life and limb on the road.
Totally agree John. Never has it been so vital to have an off-road functional bridleway network for riders, cyclists and walkers. By upgrading some footpaths enormous improvements could be made.
We have been campaigning now for close to 12 months to provide a safe off road route between communities by maintaining and improving a flooded bridleway in the Piddle Valley but so far………..
Fabulous marketing policy by Dorset Council but when will it be done?
I have bridleways in Kingston russell Dorchester which have dangerous gates to open and absolutely do my back and shoulders in .
One gate fell off its hinges whilst I was trying to open it my horse spooked and i was dragged through the hedge
Same here between Cerne valley and Sydling valley. They are an utter disgrace to both the farmer and the ROW dept. I’m too old to battle with them now so can only ride out with younger family members. It’s a complete waste of time reporting them to the RPW dept as nothing is ever done.
These paths, Bridleways are extremely important for everyone’s ability to move through the countryside. Of course it is important for wellbeing but it is also our right. Every thing possible should be done to keep them in good order. If a landowner feels the need to move a path to an edge of a field to protect stock or produce I believe that is fine as long as the path is still there and clearly marked.
To get to the footpath near me I have to walk down a narrow Lane and avoid passing cars by pressing into side of lane into nettles snd hedges.
Then once on the footpath, I can finally go past Charmouth and then back in to it.
However, to get home I have to cross slip road off A35 and then the A35 dual carriageway itself.
A couple of relatively simple links would solve it all and make these footpaths work. (Clearly they did before the A35 became the major road it now is).
Thank you Elizabeth, but please make sure your comments are submitted as part of the survey so they are officially recorded as part of the consultation – James
What about the disabled,who can’t walk or ride a bike. Do we not have rights to drive our Cars? The Liegh Road cycle path is an accident waiting to happen. I have only seen one person riding a Bicycle sometimes, no one it at many different times of the day , Someone is going to be killed with the width of the road as it is.
Sorry Pamela, but I don’t understand. Leigh Road still has full access for vehicles, all carriageways are well above standard width and the cycle lane isn’t in full use as it hasn’t been completed yet. This consultation is mainly about gathering feedback on public rights of way outside of the road network, although if people do have views on cycle-ways adjacent to the highway we’d encourage them to fill out the survey – James
What is the point. I wrote to Dorset Council several weeks ago about the state of the cycle path alongside Weymouth Way/Radipole Lake. Nettles and brambles growing right out into the path making it very difficult for cyclists when they meet anyone or overtake walkers,etc. Not a great encouragement to little ones to cycle along and get their legs stung. Cycled there yesterday and it is even worse now. Nothing has been cut back for ages. Nearly had my eye out with an overhanging bramble.
Please report overgrown pathways via https://mapping.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/rightsofway/reportproblem?fbclid=IwAR0j946fhxMj2Gghs-OhXVnOAPsNj5-j0aZ1V0PysPeIpffp2qCKpRqx-fg – James
Several weeks? There are multiple problem reports including deliberate obstructions going back 10-15 years that have been ignored by Dorset Council. The nub of the problem is that the Rangers manipulate the ‘Priority System’ to improve their apparent performance; in other words they deal with the easy stuff and ignore anything that looks a little difficult. I have many instances of this and so I look forward to a challenge from Dorset Council as to the accuracy of my view. Let me provide one general example: mending stiles is easy work and provides employment for younger people. Ok , all well and good but this attitude overlooks that the reponsibility for maintaing stiles rests with the landholder NOT DCC. DCC has the duty to enforce maintenance but never does, instead it spends our rates subsidising landholders.
Charlton Down has a significant population, yet being close to Charminster and cycle lanes to Dorchester, has no safe route that proficient young cyclists could be expected to use to reach either place. Residents have has promised a route: the route is obvious. Where is it?
The Charminster Cross area (East-West Hill/North Street is a key access point in an increasingly expanding neighbourhood. Fortunately a well established cycle lane already exists on the A37 as far Loders Garage.
Unfortunately cyclists have to use North Street (A352) to access it: it is narrow with heavy speeding traffic and nowhere for cyclists, so is dangerous. A cycle lane is required.
The above existing cycle lane which goes through Stratton and Grimstone, is by Dorset standards a major cycle route. Unfortunately it stops in Dorchester at Loders Garage and cyclists face a steep hill followed by a roundabout and town centre with no cycle provision. With the Government’s widely published priorities in mind it would make sense to get rid of all on-street parking on the hill past the Council Offices and the High Street in favour of cycle lanes on both sides of these strategic roads.
Cycling for pleasure, leisure, exercise or getting from A to B is a habit. It is a habit that tends to be formed at a young age. Unless we establish good, continuous cycle routes radiating from the principal centres of population many, probably most, families will not give their children free reign to cycle as my parents did in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
I have just spent a long time filling in the survey, saved it, told that an email had been sent to me to enable additions. No email!!
I think that the coastal footpath is extremely important and there are parts missing on Portland which are spoilt by having to go along the road but the part that makes us very sad is the loss of coast path between Castle Cove and Weymouth. If the concern is cliff erosion you could simply make some steps up from the beach along from the area of erosion. It’s such a beautiful stretch of path that we sorely miss.
Too many rights of way are wrongly signed and are off the definitive line. If this isn’t corrected expect a spate of DMMO applications!
Please could you take this opportunity to enable carriage drivers to use off-road routes, too?
We are a tiny minority and include many older and less able-bodied (and disabled) people, and many former riders. It’s a lovely traditional way to get out into the countryside with friends and family. Our vehicles’ wheels don’t churn up the ground like motorised vehicles. It’d be good to get more multi-access routes away from traffic.
And do we mention that horse owners contribute almost £5bn into the mainly rural economy, supporting vets, farriers, liveries, transport and forage companies, instructors, arenas, shows, saddlers and harness makers and many more? Thank you.
I ride in the Osmington area. Worst problem by far is gates with catches dangerous or impossible to use from horseback. In a 60-90 minute hack there is a gate every 12 to 15 minutes! Getting on and off this frequently is not good for horse or rider. Surface on track up to White Horse is very difficult, esp in dry weather when loose stones roll under feet. Made worse in recent years by passage of heavy vehicles. It would be lovely to have a safe track to get to beach (when OK for horses) without having to negotiate steep A road into Weymouth – it’s only a mile or two but might as well be 100 (that’s a big Wish List ask, i know). Completed survey to follow …
Your survey questionnaire is technically messed up, I’ve tried it repeatedly and it won’t proceed (‘unable to find survey’). Need to be better than that folks!
Sorry you’ve had difficulty Stephen, but we’re unaware of any issues with the survey – we’ve had lots of submissions already. Are you going to https://wh1.snapsurveys.com/s.asp?k=162938958915 ? What platform/device/software are you using? – James
While I can’t make the survey work, for horse-riders it’s very simple; gates. There really should be a basic requirement for gate latch types on bridleways and as of now the great majority are terrible, often dangerous, almost always difficult, especially if the horse is big. Often the distinct impression is that it’s a deliberate ploy by the landowner, to make access as difficult as possible, and while I perfectly understand the issue of damage to the ground ITS A PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY and not supposed to be a potentially lethal obstacle course.
I wonder if there could be more kissing gates or similar ? I now find, as do many others, that stiles are difficult for older or less able people. Also hard to get dogs through and keep control sometimes. There are many accidents on stiles.
I wholeheartedly agree with your comment. I walk my dog with my sister and she is in her late 70s with back problems, also very short in height! She struggles with stiles that even I, an average height, struggle with. Kissing gates are definitely the answer, or wider, safer stile footboards with shorter distances between the levels. Most seem to be made for giraffes!
Just tried to fill in Survey but seemed to get stuck 1/2 way through.
My main complaint was the poor condition of the Bridleway between Cruxton and Notton, near Maiden Newton, which is also the National Cycle path 26.
This path is supposed to connect Sherborne, Dorchester and beyond. However, for a large part of the year, usually rutted and muddy it is impossible to cycle and difficult to walk without Wellingtons.
The alternative is the busy main road between Maiden Newton and Frampton, a very dangerous prospect for cyclists!
As a Rights of Way liaison officer for a large parish, I could not agree more with the comments of Councillor Noc Lacey-Clarke quoted above. However there is a gap between these ambitions and reality. As many of the comments above show, the Ranger Team is overstretched and does not have either the manpower or the resources to maintain the current network to the standards they would like. A check on the Dorset Explorer website on the Countryside/Problem reports layer shows there are problems dating back five years and more that have not been resolved yet. Funding for improvements such as replacing stiles with gates is very limited. The same is true for the Definitive Map team who have to process applications to extend the rights of way network. Not least because of the 2026 deadline for claiming routes based on historical evidence, the team are already receiving so many Definitive Map Modification Order applications that it takes a full time member of staff just to get them into the system. There are applications from 2005 and even earlier that have still not been completed. Both teams are doing the best they can and do a good job with the limited resources they have. There is no point in inviting suggestions for improvements to the rights of way network unless there is substantially more funding available to both these teams. Whilst the idea of consulting those affected is in principal a good idea, in this case the resources that are being put into this consultation would be far better spent directly on the network.
I have been the County Access and Bridleways Officer for the British Horse Society since moving to Dorset from Hampshire in 2002, when I was in the same voluntary position there, in all spanning around 50 years.
I have to say that the bridleway gates in Dorset are some of the worst I have ever encountered, it has been a continuous battle trying to get some of them sorted out. Although some things have changed for the better, it always comes down to funding. Nothing will ever change until there is more money from National Government to improve our rights of way. Everyone is encouraged to get out into the countryside these days, but there are so many routes that need attention to make them safe for everyone to use.
There are many old County Highways spread all over Dorset. They are either classified as “D” roads or “Unclassified County Roads”. Unfortunately these do not come under the Rights of Way department but are in the hands of the Highways Department. All you can get from them is that they have no funding to repair and maintain this wonderful network of routes that in many instances connect to the other rights of way. As the Highways Department has no interest at all in these ancient routes, I sincerely believe that they should now be transferred under the umbrella of the Rights of Way and more funding given to maintain them. Yes, I shall admit that we have been able to get some of them maintained, it all needs to be sorted out once and for all. Recently the Highways have I believe received money for a scheme known as “Active Travel” to be spent on improving cycle ways, which means bridleways could be surfaced with an alternative, unacceptable hard surface. For example once lovely grass routes are now being ruined. These are not routes used by cyclists to travel to work or onto small villages, but are becoming a scar on the landscape. The British Horse Society are looking into historic routes, that are not shown as public rights of way and there is a deadline until 2026 to lodge a claim for these routes to be eventually put onto the Definitive Map. Again this will take years, with no funding to match all this extra work.
We are still awaiting for ideas and projects from the last Right of Way Improvement Plan (10 years ago) to be implemented.
Carol,
I agree 100% with all your points. Unfortunately unless people are prepared to get out and about (I mean not just the SWCP) then they do not see the poor state of many Dorset Highways. For myself, after more than 20 years of trying to get our highways improved, I have come to the conclusion that Dorset Highways and those reponsible for maintaining our other PROW’s regard the problem reporting procedures as nothing more than an irritation whilst they get on with their primary objective of subsidising landholders by repairing their stiles free of charge. We do not need more stiles! They constitute an obstruction to everybody.
Totally agree Carol. Hellish difficult even trying to report problems on unmade UCRs!
How about responding to reports of impassable stiles as the farmer has removed it and replaced with a 5 foot high gate which can’t be opened, I have back problems and can’t get over it, ruined my favourite walk.
18/7/2021
Thank you for reporting a problem on a public right of way on the Dorset Council website.
Your problem reference number is 20210718/0515
As you were unable to use the map to report the problem, you can not track the problem online.
Your problem will now be passed to our rangers, who will assess the issue, prioritise it and make any necessary repairs.
Are you coordinating with Devon Council at all? As a resident of Lyme Regis, to the extreme west of Dorset, many of my suggestions will cross county borders.
Bridleways are footpaths too but are never indicated as such on finger posts.
Perhaps this consultation is a means of obtaining the data to persuade Dorset Council to fund all the rights included under Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. After ‘social care’ is properly funded of course. Kissing gates on footpaths block countryside access for all terrain Class 3 personal mobility ‘vehicle’ (scooters with VERY big wheels).
the Ordance Survey book of Dorset Walks has a brillant one through Wimborne St Giles. However the footpath ends at one point on a B road – 50.932722733575446, -1.9585892374521259. The footpath on the other side picks it up a little further up the road. – 50.93701744465133, -1.9657942679547828
Cars appear to use the road as a race track. Can these 2 footpaths be joined by widening the verge
Many stiles seem to have been install by men for men and are very difficult for small ladies to get over safely. More kissing gates please especially along the Brit valley way, which is lovely but almost impassable to the elderly, and in Shipton Gorge.
I have tried three times to use your survey and each time I get to the proposal form it throws me out. If you really want to find out what people are suggesting perhaps you should have a system that allows you to do just that.
To say I’m frustrated with your survey is to put it mildly because the lack of connection and maintenance between Shipton and Bridport needs addressing and not being able to complete your survey merely confirms my belief that you are not serious in your endeavours.
While we’re sorry to hear you are having issues with the form Howard we have had over 550 completed responses to the survey so far, so there doesn’t appear to be a wider problem. If you could please e-mail comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with your comments, we’ll pass them to our engagement team – thank you. James.
Well that’s very nice for the 550 people who managed to negotiate your survey but I don’t think I’m the only one who for whatever reason fell foul of your programme.
There does not seem to be any mention of access for those who try to access footpaths and other ROW but are disabled in some way and have to use some form of motive help such as cross country wheelchairs or trikes. There are gates which are too narrow or have awkward thresholds that make a cross country walk a bit more than a really tough assault course …just to enjoy the views and open air! A bit more thought when designing or replacing gates, etc. Would not go amiss!