- Public Rights of Way

Survey of Public Rights of Way – John Lane, GCC
The Public Rights of Way Team at the County Council are coming to the end of a huge project to survey all 3,430 miles of the public footpaths, bridleways and byways in the County. For the first time ever there will be an electronic record of the entire path network listing every gate, stile, bridge, boardwalk and path sign. In addition, all paths were judged against the Best Value Performance Indicator assessment, as to their ‘ease of use’. The Parish of Woodchester has 6.14 miles of public rights of way which were surveyed by John Lane, the Area Officer for the South Stroud area, during the early part of 2008. The next stage of the process will be to analyse the data recorded and to assess the priorities for carrying out any remedial work. Paths fell into one of three categories: ‘Well Used Principle Route’; ‘Used’ or ‘Little Used Minor Route’.  This helps determine the priority of any remedial works.  Clearly,  Little Used Minor paths will not be at the top of the list for repair work whereas, Well Used routes, such as those on school-to-home routes for example, will receive attention more quickly. In a separate project, it is now possible to see all Gloucestershire’s Public Rights of Way on the Internet. Access is via the GCC Website at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk