Rights of way in a British city?

Question

Just a curious one for you all.

In a town centre are pavements classed as rights of way? In the countryside rights of way are well defined and are shown clearly on an Ordnance Survey map (In England anyway, Scotland is a bit different). However the footpaths in a city are not shown with the green dotted lines indicating a right of way.... so are they a public right of way (I am thinking here the open footpaths within the city centre, that pedestrians have free access to and have had free access to for many years, and also pedestrianised areas). I am thinking that they should be - and here is another question - where can I find this out?


So now here is why I am curious - Glasgow is being overtaken with Bland coffee chains selling Americanised litres of coffee in paper mugs (yes, I know litre isn't an american drink size), and these shops are spilling out onto the street with pavement cafes. Now in Glasgow there is maybe 2 weeks of the year where you wouldn't get hypothermia sitting outside to drink a gallon of coffee. Back to the point - these cafes are blocking parts of what I am assuming to be a public highway and right of way? Is this illegal? (there is one that has large plant pots chained together so they are definitely obstructing the path, others have advert banners round them blocking the path).

So can anyone tell me, do I have the right to walk on the whole pavement (If I wanted to could I take my own seat into these areas and eat my own picnic?), and is blocking these paths illegal, or verging on the dodgy?


Cheers

on thin ice · Accepted Answer

I can not be specific as Scottish law is often different to English law but if I explain briefly English law you could try asking your local council / highway authority if the situation is similar for you.

First issue, some walk ways, esp in shopping malls are not 'dedicated' as public highways.This means they are privately owned although to all intents and purposes the public are using them without any restrictions and probably don't know. Usually somewhere will be a sign saying, in effect, 'this way has not been dedicated as a public highway' which keeps the private owners rights.

As for cafe and bar areas spilling out onto the pavements. In England ( briefly ) the Highways Act 1980 allows the Highway Authority ( read Council ) to create various restrictions on public highways within their control. A pavement is just a highway reserved for pedestrians. They are allowed to give a 'licence' ie permission for the pavement to be used as you describe but it is the duty of the Highway Authority to maintain the absolute right of the public to pass and re-pass along a highway and banning foot traffic is the one thing they can not stop. So, where does that leave things ? 

Most pavement cafes are barried off and it seems most Highway Authorities are claiming that the rest of the pavement is sufficient to comply with the publics absolute legal right of free passage - in other cases I have seen Highway Authorities saying that there must still be free and safe access for pedestrians even through the pavement cafe area but I doubt that the general public are aware of their rights.I am not personally aware of any legal challenges where pedestrians claim their rights have been denied by a pavement cafe but as part of the permission the Authorities usually post notices of the application inviting objections and they require hefty public liability and indemnity insurance from the cafe / bar owner just in case. Different towns seem to have differing opinions on how secure, semi permanent or removable the area of the street cafe / bar should be.

SimonC · Answer

The previous answer from On Thin Ice seems to deal adequately with why, how and when cafes and shops can use pavements.

It should be noted that a right of way is different from a public highway. A right of way is a right to use a path across land that is otherwise private - such as a farmer's field. A public highway is a road or footpath owned and maintained at public expense, which the public have a right to use. On top of these rights, and as alluded to in OTI's answer, the public are also often given acces to areas where there is no *right* of access, such as shopping malls, parks, etc.

In some cases the land directly outside a cafe might not be part of a public highway, in which case the landowner has sole discretion about how it is used. Assuming it is a highway then the normal rules regarding obstruction, etc, will apply, as per OTI's answer.

In general terms this is not really any different to parking on the road. Motorists do not have a general right to park at all on the roads. But they are permitted to do so (except where there are explicit restrictions) provided the parked vehicle is not obstructing the ability of others to pass and re-pass. Whether a parked car is obstructing is a question of judgement in each case.

Wendy · Answer

Have you been to Bath, Cambridge, Oxford, York, Winchester, Greenwich, Salisbury, etc? Edinburgh is definitely a gorgeous city but there are plenty of beautiful cities across the UK You have to remember that London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and several other cities in the UK suffered major damage from aerial bombings during the Blitz in WWII destroying many historic buildings which is the reason you find many new buildings in these cities. Over 76 consecutive nights, London alone was bombed by the Luftwaffe and over 1 million buildings were partially or completely destroyed. Edinburgh was not a military or industrial centre so it was not targeted and escaped bombardment - that's why you still have the original old buildings.

Londonlad · Answer

It will be entirely down to the local council as to whether or not they allow chairs and tables and advertising hoardings etc to be sited on pavements.
Very often the shop or building will actually own a part of the pavement.

Check with the local council.

Rights of way in a British city?

4 Answers