Written question asked by Bob Laxton (Labour) on Monday, 28 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 30 November 2005. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Friday, 2 December 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Discovering Lost Ways Project

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate was made by the Countryside Agency, at the time of setting up the Discovering Lost Ways Project, of the distance in kilometres of (a) footpath, (b) bridleway and (c) byway open to all traffic which would need (i) correcting and (ii) adding to the definitive map before it could be considered accurate and complete.

Answer: A study commissioned by the Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales to identify the size of the potential task of recording lost ways, by reporting on the progress made in bringing the definitive map and statement up to date; and estimate how many unrecorded rights of way are likely to be brought onto the definitive map, reported in March 2002. 70 highway authorities (of 136) responded to the research questionnaire. 20 per cent. of the authorities that responded to the consultation had undertaken structured assessments of the extent of unrecorded rights. Based on these estimates, the report concluded that the number of unrecorded rights in England was likely to be in the region of 20,000. The estimate for the length of additional unrecorded rights was 16,000 km. It was estimated that 58 per cent. of that increase would be in the form of footpaths (9,300 km), 25 per cent. would be bridleways (4,000 km), and the remaining 17 per cent. (2,700 km) would be byways.

Secondary information