In a letter to the Times in the November of last year we said “The systematic trawl for information about paths in the National Archives and county record offices is valuable, but what is being discovered needs to be put in the public domain, so that the voluntary sector can fully engage in the path claiming process. Quite separately, the Law Commission should be asked to review the legislation which governs the recording of rights of way on definitive maps and which places an enormous administrative burden on both local authorities and the Planning Inspectorate, with a view to simplifying it.”

We have now learnt that Natural England has put a set of proposals to Defra Ministers about the future of the project. Natural England says that it has reviewed the effectiveness of the DLW project to date and concluded that researching lost ways is extremely resource intensive. Even if it were to adopt a policy of pursuing “high quality” routes, it would still require exhaustive and costly research. This conclusion will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the progress of the project. Crucial from the point of view of walkers and other path users is what Natural England sees as the way forward now:

• progressing from its current role of researching and claiming individual lost ways to providing advice and guidance to this that wish to do so at their own initiative;

• Facilitating a fundamental review of the legislation and current processes that underpin the provision of access;

• working with stakeholders on the review;

• building and encouraging further progress with the Rights of Way Improvement Plans (ROWIPs) prepared by local highway authorities; and…

• Seeking to invest the money saved on the current DLW project approach to deliver this work.

Natural England say that Defra civil servants are ‘broadly comfortable’ with this approach but the response of Ministers is still awaited. Clearly the ‘fundamental review of the legislation’ presents us with a tremendous opportunity to bring some much-needed improvements to rights of way law. The challenge will be in ensuring that number one on the list of any changes is repeal of the 2026 cut-off date now that the supposed safety-net of the Discovering Lost Ways project has been removed. Watch this space for more news in the coming months.