Footpath from the village of Yawthorpe to Corringham East Lane - Find a freedom of information request

Application by Stephen Parkhouse of Mansfield on behalf of the Ramblers Association for a footpath from the village of Yawthorpe to Corringham East Lane with all supporting evidence dated 21st October 2024.

1. Has this application been approved? I have been told it is not a right of way.

2. If not can you tell me what the process involves?

1. No decision has been made yet regarding this application and the matter is currently awaiting investigation.

A copy of the application can be viewed at https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/directory-record/79527/corringham-dmmo-852. The making of the application and submission of the evidence submitted in support of has placed the County Council under a duty to investigate if a public right of way exists over the route.

The application (LCC Ref. DMMO/852/Corringham) has yet to be determined as it is one of a large number of cases that is awaiting investigation in line with the County Council’s Modification Order Case Priority Schedule. This case is currently ranked 540th out of 553 cases that are awaiting investigation.

2. The County Council is required to investigate the evidence and consult the local councils for the area on the making of the application before making a decision based on the evidence on whether a public right of way is reasonably alleged to subsist to warrant the making of a modification order. The applicant and affected landowners and occupiers would be served with a copy of the decision.

Should the County Council determine not to make a DMMO for a route applied for then the applicant would have the right to appeal the decision. If an order is made, then it would be subject to a 6-week public consultation during which anyone would have the right to object to the making of the order. The public consultation would include serving notice of the making of the modification order and a copy of the order itself on the local councils for area, statutory consultees and utilities, and the affected parties (e.g., the landowners and occupiers), and the posting of notices on land subject to the order and in a newspaper circulating in the area. An Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs would determine opposed orders or appeals lodged against decisions not to make an order by the written representations process, local public hearing or a local public inquiry. The route would only be recorded as a public right of way in the Definitive Map and Statement should a modification order be made and confirmed. For an order to be confirmed, the evidence must demonstrate on the balance of probability that public right of way exists.

Further information about the evidence-led statutory process used to establish the existence of a public right of way is given on pages 4-13, 24-28 and 42-43 of the free booklet, A guide to definitive maps and changes to public rights of way – 2008 Revision, which can be downloaded from the government website http://www.gov.uk/government/publications/definitive-maps-of-public-rights-of-way-change-the-legal-records.

Following the commencement of the investigation of the application and the evidence submitted in respect of it, it can take several years before an outcome is known due to the evidential and legal nature of the statutory process outlined above.