On many modern browsers holding down the CTRL key and using the mouse wheel allows sizing these pages to suit
On many modern browsers holding down the CTRL key and using
the mouse wheel allows sizing these pages to suit
|
back to Reviews index Rights of Way, a Guide to Law and Practice by John Riddall and John Trevelyan Open Spaces Society (www.oss.org.uk) and Ramblers' Association (www.ramblers.org.uk) Purchase through the Ramblers' Association at £20 plus pp A BADFA mini-review by Chris Beney, 2002 Please note this review is of the Third Edition. In mid 2007 the Fourth Edition was published.
The second edition had begun to get seriously out of date. It was particularly necessary to have a new edition because of the passing, in late 2000, of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (the CROW Act). Consideration had been given to publishing it on CD or at least as a loose-leaf up-datable book. In the end it was decided to repeat the previous successful format, but actively explore how to prevent it falling behind the current law and practice position. There had been wide consultation on improvements to and changes to the second edition, I had urged a loose-leaf option by means of wide inner margins in order to allow either loose or bound versions to be made available, but that was not to be. If there is one disappointment on its
content, it is the non inclusion of any of the CROW Act that had not come into
force by April 2001. There are one or two text references to it, but that is all. I hope that a way
will be found around this, whether it is downloadable pages, a small update
volume, or some other way.
I hope there are no glitches lurking within*, the previous edition left out a word 'and' in the HA80 s147 Statute text, causing significant misdirection in highway authority and volunteer work alike, resulting in poorer control of gates and stiles and so loss of amenity to the public. That is now corrected of course. And the fact that I can only identify one such glitch in the whole of the previous edition says a lot for the very high standard of accuracy delivered by the Blue Book authors. They, and the two sponsoring organisations (OSS and RA) are to be congratulated.
* note at February 2004: an issue has arisen regarding the book's view on extinguishment of unrecorded ways under the CROW Act. back to Reviews index
|
What can one say about the book?
Just in case anyone is reading this who is not familiar with the previous
editions it maintains its position as the most definitive and wide ranging book
in its field. No local Authority, no lawyer dealing with rights of way, no
footpath volunteer worker worth their salt should be without it, and very few
are. One of its most useful features is the inclusion of the text from most of
the relevant statutes as well as the appropriate regulations. These are all in
one nice bright-covered volume.