Land Access Ltd.

• Access • Countryside • Rights of Way • Environment

Land Access Glossary

  • Bicycle — legally, a bicycle is a carriage and so originally could only be used on carriageways. It was only following the Countryside Act 1968 that the public were granted the right to ride bicycles on bridleways.
  • Bridleway — a path over which there is a public right to walk, ride or lead a horse and to ride a bicycle.
  • Byway open to all traffic (BOAT) — often referred to, unhelpfully, by its acronym, 'boat'; this type of route is, as its name implies, open to any type of traffic, including motor vehicles. However, the highway authority only has a duty to maintain these routes to a sufficient standard for the normal traffic that would use it
  • Carriageway — is a term used to denote routes that the public can use with vehicles (although this right might be restricted by TRO or restricted byway status). You may also walk or ride on carriageways
  • Definitive Map and Statement — these are the legal documents that are used to record public rights of way. Often they are just referred to as the 'Definitive Map', but the statement is also a vital part of the record. Entry of a path on the Definitive Map and Statement provides absolute proof that a public right of way exists.
  • Definitive Map Modification Order — the Definitive Map and Statement can be altered by means of a DMMO. The order is usually made by the highway authority to amend the map to show previously unrecorded rights of way.
  • Footpath — a highway for use by pedestrians only (and those using approved mobility 'buggies', pushchairs and prams or wheelchairs).
  • Footway — these are the 'pavements' alongside roads, although in early legislation what we now call footpaths were often called footways and vice versa!
  • Green Lane — this is a descriptive term used to describe many un-sealed routes (with or without a stone surface). 'Green Lane' has no legal significance and it cannot be assumed that these routes carry vehicular rights.
  • Highway Authority — this is usually the County Council or the Unitary or Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Metalled — 'metal' is the stone used to construct the way. A metalled track does not have to be sealed with asphalt but may be an un-sealed stoned surface.
  • Order making authority — orders to make changes to paths or to the definitive map are usually, but not always, made by the highway authority. For example, District Councils have the power to make some orders even where the County is the highway authority. So the term Order Making Authority (OMA) is used when considering definitive map or public path orders.
  • ORPA — not all routes that are open to the public can be classed as public rights of way or recorded on the Definitive Map and Statement. Permissive routes or unclassified roads with uncertain legal status are recorded by the OS as 'other routes with public access'.
  • Public path — a public path is a route that can be recorded on the Definitive Map and Statement that is not used primarily for motor vehicles.
  • Public path order — diversions, creations or extinguishments are the main forms of public path orders; they relate to the management of routes as opposed to recording rights of access (see definitive map modification orders).
  • Public right of way — routes over which the public have a right to pass and re-pass. There are four main types; footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic.
  • Restricted byway — these are vehicular highways restricted to use by non-mechanically propelled vehicles, such as bicycles and horse-drawn carriages. Pdestrians and horse riders can also use them.
  • Road used as a public path — 'Rupps' were a confusing classification of right of way that were intended to record routes used mainly by people on foot or horseback but which were roads. They have now been converted to restricted byways by the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 (although many had previously been reclassified after investigation of their status).
  • Sealed — or 'un-sealed' with respect to public rights of way refers to the surface of the way, a sealed way having, usually, an asphalt or concrete cap that seals the road from water.
  • Surveying authority — this is the body responsible for the upkeep of the Definitive Map and Statement. Usually this is the highway authority.
  • TRO — Traffic Regulation Orders can be used to legally suspend or constrain the access rights of certain classes of users (or all users) permanently, periodically or temporarily.
  • UCR — Unclassified County Roads is a term still occasionally applied to some very minor, usually un-sealed roads. The term was abolished by the 1968 Countryside Act and all such routes should now be referred to simply as un-classified roads.
  • White roads — these are the very minor tracks, driveways and other routes recorded on Ordnance Survey maps; they may or may not carry public rights of way.