Rook’s Way – One Day Path Closure

• Author: Russell Cleaver
• Published: 9th January 2017
• Categories:

Rook’s Way – One Day Path Closure

Rook’s Way is a permissive footpath along the edge of Clanfield and it is due to be closed for one day on Monday 30th January. This route leads inside the hedgerow along Chalton Lane from the junction with Green Lane to near the A3 junction close to the Hampshire Hog pub.

This one day closure is a legal quirk that applies to all such permissive routes. Such paths must close for at least one day a year to prevent them becoming a statutory right of way – for if so, landowners would lose the flexibility of being able to re-route or amending them to suit their agricultural practices.

Permissive routes such as Rook’s Way are more common than you might think, they occur frequently across the farming landscape and are often linked to agricultural grant aid schemes as a means of offering public access in return for grant aid. Rook’s Way in particular is a well-used route by pedestrians, since it allows them to avoid the traffic on the busy Chalton Lane.

Just don’t try to use it on 30 January 2017, when it will be closed.