Protecting your land
Landowners may prevent new public rights from arising on their land as a result of long use, by challenging that use. Any such challenge needs to be overt and brought to the attention of the public or made in the following form as outlined in statute.
New public rights of way may be created as a result of use of a route by members of the public, usually for a period of twenty years or more. Section 31(6) of the Highways Act 1980 allows landowners to acknowledge the existence of public rights of way which already cross their land and to prevent new public rights of way being created by long use. This is done by the deposit of a statement and map showing the extent of their land and what rights exist over it. This must be followed up within 20 years by a declaration that no additional rights have been dedicated. A statement/declaration made under section 31(6) will not prevent any unrecorded rights of way that already exist from being recorded, nor can it remove any existing recorded rights.
Under section 15A of the Commons Act 2006 a landowner may deposit with us a map and statement which brings to an end any recreational use of the land 'as of right'. Provided that this is submitted before there has been 20 years 'as of right' use of the land for recreational purposes it will prevent the land from being registered as a town or village green.
Further details about deposits made under both the Highways Act and the Commons Act can be found in Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA) Guidance for the completion of form CA16.
Making an application
If, having read DEFRA's guidance, you would like to make an application please complete form CA16 which can also be found at the aforementioned web page and return it by post (a signed paper copy is required) to the following address:
Countryside Access
Surrey County Council
Whitebeam Lodge
Merrow Depot
Merrow Lane
Guildford GU4 7BQ
Email: rightsofway@surreycc.gov.uk
A copy of the above form with some bespoke modifications for ease of completion can be obtained from the Countryside Access team.
Please note that we charge for all Highways and Landowner deposits made for a single/standard parcel of land as shown below:
- Highways Statements and Declarations: £350
- Landowner Statements (with or without Highways Statements / Declarations): £680
Landowner Statements cost more because the Council has a duty to post and maintain these notices on-site for 60 days.
Additional fees may be charged for larger or more complex land holdings.
On receipt of an application form, the County Council will send you a link to our online payment form with confirmation of how much the application will cost. Alternatively a cheque may be sent made payable to Surrey County Council. Only on receipt of both the fee and a correctly completed form will your application be considered duly made. At this stage we will publish a notice of the deposit on our website, post site notices (where applicable) on the land affected and update the legal register of deposits. In all cases it is recommended that a draft version of your deposit is submitted to the Countryside Access Team before a final signed version is deposited. The Council does not take responsibility for the content of your deposit; in all cases it is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that the forms are corrected completely.
The online register and public notices webpage
The Council is required to record all deposits of this type in online and paper register form.
We have recently updated our searchable online register which can be viewed on our Highways Statements and Declarations page.
On arrival at this page please select 'Landowner deposits' from the green menu in the left hand column. You may then perform a number of searches by clicking on 'Filter' on the left-hand side of the main column. Selecting an individual deposit followed by the green View/Print button will allow you to see a pdf of the actual deposit, its particulars and the extent of it in the accompanying mapping window.
Any questions about how to use the new register, or to view the paper register in person with a Countryside Access Officer please contact us by telephone 0300 200 1003, email rightsofway@surreycc.gov.uk, or use the postal address listed above.
You may also view a map of these deposits and a short summary of their particulars in our Highways and Commons interactive mapping.
Since 2013 the Council has been required to publish notice of each application it receives. These can be viewed as follows: Highways Act and Commons Act Public Notices.
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