SurreyCC. reviewing ‘alleged public footpath from Hawkshill Way, along Park Close to join Public Footpath 43 (Esher)’.

After five years of waiting, former ERA Committee member, Doug Fryer’s campaign to reinstate footpath gets a review.

Surrey County Council’s Countryside Access Team has just issued the following letter:

Countryside Access
Surrey County Council
Merrow Depot
Merrow Lane
Guildford
GU4 7BQ 

18 June 2025

Alleged public footpath from Hawkshill Way, along Park Close to join Public Footpath 43 (Esher).

I write regarding the above application, which was made in 2020, and relates to an allegation that the route shown on the attached map should be recorded on our records as a public footpath. 

The case has been in a queue awaiting investigation and it has now been passed to me to begin. My job is to look at all the evidence and make a recommendation on whether the evidence is sufficient to reasonably allege that a public footpath exists over the claimed route. 

The application was made by Mr Fryer, who claims that the general public have enjoyed free access on foot over the claimed route for a period in excess of twenty years. In support of the claim he has submitted user evidence forms upon which claimants give evidence of their use of the routes. 

Having received the application, the County Council is legally obliged to investigate and then determine it on the basis of evidence and research. Under section 31 of the Highways Act 1980, a particular route may become a public highway if it can be shown that there has been twenty years uninterrupted use by the public ‘as of right’, combined with no evidence that the landowner(s) had no intention of dedicating the way to the public.

In assessing the claim it is necessary to take into consideration the history of the locality and in particular the evidence of past and present landowners and any steps that they have taken which could rebut the claim that the route has become a public right of way through long use. Any application must be decided on its own facts; the exercise is concerned with resolving uncertainty over what rights already exist, not over what rights are desirable from either the public or private viewpoint. Status can be determined on the strength of user, landowner or archive evidence.

I would be grateful for your comments on the question of the public status of the route and the application. Receipt of your reply within the next two months would be appreciated. If you can respond via email this would be the quickest way of contacting me, however you can also use the above postal address.

Should you require any further information then do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Catherine Valiant

Should anyone wish to respond to this note, please email:  catherine.valiant@surreycc.gov.uk referring to her letter: DP/CV/CP601