Maintenance
The Highways Authority is usually responsible for the management and maintenance of the public rights of way network. Public rights of way should generally be maintained to a standard appropriate to their location and the public use they receive.
There may be a joint maintenance responsibility where for example a footpath is also used as a private vehicular access. In such situations the apportionment of the responsibility generally accords with the level of private versus public use of the way, and the corresponding wear and tear caused by the respective uses.
Landowners have responsibility for maintaining:
- gates and other furniture along a path
- cutting back overhanging vegetation that affects users of public rights of way
- making arrangements with the Highway Authority for paths that will be affected by drainage or other engineering works to be temporarily closed or diverted.