Clough Fields, a long-established public right of way, is under threat.

Do you use this path, if so read on…

The new owners of the Clough Fields riding stables are trying to stop people from using a 20-30metre farmyard stretch of the roadway that runs from Back Lane to the footpaths that continue on through the fields to St Anthony’s Road, Mulehouse Park, and into Crookes.

The new owners are not contesting either the roadway or paths leading up to the stable yard, just the 20 to 30metre stretch of roadway that goes through the farmyard.

For many years Clough Fields Farm, Sheffield S10 5PY, was a collection of dwellings on the established road that ran from Back Lane into the yard. (map location 53.384737 -1.521654)https://goo.gl/maps/3HrSHNf6cYYpWHdu6

The law is, that the general public have a right of access on private land if the land was used as a public right of way in the past and/or the land was accessed by the public for at least 20 years and nobody has asked for access to be stopped over this period.

If you use this route and wish to comment on its closure, you can download the “rights of way evidence form” from the council site by clicking on this link – https://tinyurl.com/cloughfields
(In order to be admissible, they have to be hand-written).

Submit your completed formal application, “Rights of Way Evidence Form” to the Sheffield City Council or send it to Cllr. Ruth Milsom, Sheffield City Council, Town Hall, Sheffield S1 2HH, by early December.

https://crosspool.info/2021/11/27/clough-fields/

User Evidence consists of a person’s personal experience of a path. How long they have used it;how often they have used it – daily, once per week, a few times per year? For what purposes did they use it- for recreation, exercise, to visit friends/relatives, to get to the shops, a bus stop, to walk the dog, to walk the kids? Did they see other people using the same path when they themselves were walking it?

Did they see any notices whilst walking the path which caused them to think that their use of the path was being challenged by anybody especially the landowner? What exactly did the notice say and when did you first see it? Did you see any gates and stiles on the path? Did anyone speak to you and call your use of the path into question? Were there any obstructions on the path(other than the usual summer over/undergrowth of brambles & nettles)? Were they given permission by anyone to use the path? Do they know or even work for the owner of the land across which the claimed path runs?

The second paragraph above is vital since to succeed, the applicant must demonstrate use of the path has been “as of right”. This means without force, permission or secrecy.

If you demonstrate the above, then the second leg of section 31(1) of the Highways Act 1980 comes into play. The landowner can rebut that presumption that he/she has dedicated the path to public use by his/her inaction, by demonstrating with evidence that he/she did challenge public use. He/she erected notices, even if they were torn down or defaced, which made it clear that use of the path was not acceptable such as “Private Land, no public right of way” “Keep out, no trespassers”. Or he/she lodged a section 31(6) declaration with Sheffield Council with a plan showing his/her land with the paths marked on that he/she accepts are public and, by inference, nothing else is accepted as public. (We know that he hasn’t done that). Or he has challenged people verbally(he/she must have evidence of this). Or he/she has given people permission by some means(a notice on the path or in the local village newsletter). Or he/she has closed the path once per day to show that the path isn’t public (a public footpath must be available 24/7/365 to qualify as public).

There is a specimen user evidence form that you can download from the SCC website which clearly sets out the evidence that SCC are looking for.

Thanks to Clive for spotting this.

Clough Fields, a long-established public right of way, is under threat.

Published by John Dalton on 3 December 2021

Summer Series starts Monday 27th April at 6.30pm

JOHN EDWARDS – A short remembrance

John Edwards

​Clough Fields, a long-established public right of way, is under threat.

Published by John Dalton on 3 December 2021

Related Posts

Summer Series starts Monday 27th April at 6.30pm

JOHN EDWARDS – A short remembrance

John Edwards

Clough Fields, a long-established public right of way, is under threat.