The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000 (CRoW) greatly increased the extent of public access to common land and finally delivered the recommendations of the 1958 Royal Commission. It should be noted, however, that in many areas the de facto rights of access enjoyed by the public were far in excess of the rights granted by CRoW in 2000.

For example, on many upland commons there is access to crags for rock climbing, tarns for swimming and wild camping is generally accepted.

Land covered by the CRoW Act and notable exceptions Access rights under CROW apply to open country and all registered common land other than that on which there is already a statutory right of access under one of the provisions mentioned above. This land is known as section 15 (s.15) land.

Open country is land that is wholly or predominately mountain, moor, heath or down and is shown

coloured yellow on the CROW maps. These maps no longer distinguish between general open country and common land, nor do they detail s.15 land, although this can be viewed on the MAGIC website.

There are a number of categories of open country, including common land, to which CRoW does not apply, this is known as excepted land. These exceptions include:

• Land used by the military under the Military Land Acts n

• Land covered by buildings

• Land within 20 metres of a livestock building unless this land provides a way to CRoW “access land”

• Land covered by temporary livestock pens

• Land used as a golf course or racecourse.

The access afforded by CRoW

CROW provides the public with a right of access on foot only. This includes running, climbing, photography, having a picnic, and bird watching. Wheelchairs are also allowed.

It does not include cycling, horse riding, camping, or rock climbing.

The owner of the common’s right to extend the types of access allowed If the owner of the common agrees, then Natural England or, where appropriate, the relevant National Park Authority may extend the type of access allowed on a common. This is done by excluding some of the restrictions that CRoW has imposed either indefinitely or for a specified period.

For example, it may be felt that the restriction on swimming in tarns in access areas is unnecessary and, with the agreement of the common owner, this may be revoked. There is no requirement for the landowner to discuss this with commoners.

Gaining entry to access land

The public have a right to enter open access land at any point and may climb walls or fences to do so. The local Highway Authority or National Park Authority has powers to seek agreement with the common owner to create a physical entrance onto access land by way of a stile, gate or bridge.

Access points to open access land are usually publicised locally to encourage walkers and others to use the stiles etc and to avoid damage to boundaries.

The agreement may be that the landowner will carry out the work (possibly with a financial contribution from the authority) or alternatively that the authority will carry out the work itself. If an agreement cannot be reached then the authority can serve a notice on the owner informing him of its intention to carry out the work. The landowner has the right to appeal to the Secretary of State against such a notice.

What is expected of the public when using open access land?

There is a long list of things that the public cannot do when exercising their right of access under the CRoW Act.

The following is not comprehensive but includes most common issues. The public must not:

• Drive or ride a vehicle, bike or horse

• Swim, fish, sail or boat

• Bring any animal other than a dog on to the land

• Camp or light fires

• Hunt or shoot

• Play any organised games, hang-glide or para-glide.

In addition they are required to:

• Shut and fasten gates

• Not interfere with fences walls and other boundaries (although they can climb them),

• Not intentionally or otherwise do something that disturbs, annoys or obstructs another person’s lawful use of the access land

• Not take any specimens of flora or fauna or birds’ eggs.

Dogs

Dogs are allowed on access land but they must always be kept under close control and must be kept on a short lead during lambing (between 1 March and 31 July) and whenever they are in the vicinity of livestock (including horses).

Excluding the provisions of CRoW It is possible to temporarily exclude land from the access provisions of CRoW.