Thousands of miles of footpaths that faced being lost forever could now be saved after the government committed to lifting a deadline for all rights of ways in England to be mapped.People had been given until 2031 to have all historic but unrecorded public paths and bridleways added to the nation’s official “definitive map”.The government said scrapping the cut-off date would give councils time to assess whether paths met the requirements.Walking campaigners have welcomed the announcement but the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said removing the deadline would mean claims would “continue to disrupt many farm businesses for years to come”.Legislation requiring local authorities to create a “definitive map” showing public rights of way in their area was passed in 1949.But the documents have been kept under continuous review, meaning anyone with appropriate evidence could apply for a path to be added.There are estimated to be more than 40,000 miles of rights of way in England which are not officially recorded. The previous Conservative government had also planned to scrap the cut off date for historic paths to be registered but later decided to extend it from 2026 to 2031, saying this would provide more certainty for landowners, councils and users.But the Local Government Association said financial pressures had left councils with limited resources to process applications, making the 2031 deadline “a tall order unlikely to be met”.Research by the BBC found that as of March this year, nearly 8,000 requests for paths to be added to the official map were waiting to be processed. Once a right of way has been established, the local authority and landowner are legally responsible for maintaining it. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spa …
