Rights of Way

Mr. Chope
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it the policy of the Government to exclude built-up areas in towns and villages from the extinguishment provisions of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and exercise his powers to that effect under Section 54.

Jonathan Shaw
Section 54 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act does provide for “excepted rights of way” which are exempted from the extinguishment provisions of the Act and come into force in 2026. The relevant sections in the Act require regulations to be implemented, and are yet to be implemented in Parliament. The Government will publish a consultation paper in due course to seek views on the scope of the provisions before any regulations are brought into force.