A partnership project between the National Trust and the Lake District National Park Authority has resulted in a new rights of way being secured throughout the Lake District. There has been informal access along many of these paths for some time, but the project will convert this to formally recognised public access which will ensure that they are public rights of way in perpetuity.
The agreement will also sort out who is responsible for them in the long term, and it will mean that the paths are shown on Ordnance Survey maps so that people know that they are there. The result will be:
Three of these paths also run over other people's land, such as the Rydal Estates through Carter Jonas, and private landowners around Borrowdale. This is all excellent news for Lake District walkers.
The National Park's Countryside Access Adviser, Nick Thorne, said he was:
very pleased that we have been able to work in partnership with the National Trust and other private landowners to bring about this long-term benefit to the public - and I would like to thank them for their support and agreement.
Andrew Thompson, the National Trust's Estate's Manager added:
The successful collaboration between the Trust and the national park on this footpath project bodes well for future.This particular exercise has shown that, by taking a flexible approach - regarding the right to make use of permissive paths - both landowners and the public can determine whether a route works for all parties concerned before it becomes dedicated. We hope locals and visitors to the Lake District will enjoy making use of these new rights of way.
We are now working with the Trust on a further twelve agreements as part of this process, and also hope to progress three or four individual agreements with them under the Go Lakes Travel project.
Over the next few months the national park's field team will be erecting new fingerposts on these paths, and installing new gates and surfacing to make the paths fully usable to all.
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