UKC

I was out yesterday on a shocking footpath that had almost every obstacle going: no signage, stiles missing, rotten or overgrown and new barbed wire fence placed across the line of the path. I wasn't in the Lakes but I was at Gleaston in the new political entity known as Westmorland and Furness. Does anyone know how to report RoW problems these days?

There should be an Access Officer. Some councils have very efficient reporting and status systems, such as geowessex, which uses a GIS for mapping, PROWs, and problem reports/resolutions.

But 'austerity' and council make-up can mean the Access Office is in the basement. Where the lights have gone. And the stairs...

https://www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/parks-culture-and-leisure/countrys...

Even years ago in the days of Cumbria CC it was very patchy reporting path problems (and there were/are still very many) and getting a useful response. I recall one time reporting a blocked access getting onto a road from a bridleway where even on foot it was impossible. I had to go through the yard of a nearby house and the hysterical/aggressive owner insisted that the bridleway hadn't existed since the building of the Settle-Carlisle railway! A council officer got on it and it was sorted but - guess what? - it was soon blocked again. This is the kind of entitled nobbish behaviour that I absolutely hate. I used to make a point of insisting on my legal right of passage on public paths but as I've got older find actual confrontation intimidating and dispiriting (which is exactly what these b@stards want). Back here in Lancashire there were quite a few who took the opportunity of covid lockdowns to illegally block or divert rights of way past their properties.

Excellent - I'll give them a try!