• 
• 
• 
• 
  • Applying For
  • Business Resources
  • Careers and Retirement
  • Citizens Advice
  • Community Council
  • Council Tax and Housing
  • Education and Learning
  • Emergency Contacts
  • Environment
    • Archaeology
    • Area Regeneration
    • Built Heritage
    • Countryside Rangers
    • Environmental health
    • Environmental Strategy
    • Natural Heritage
    • Outdoor Access
    • Recycling
    • Trees
    • Waste Disposal
    • Wildlife Records
  • Housing Services
  • Living and Social Care
  • Local Democracy
  • Online Services
  • Planning and Building
  • Your Street
• 
• 

The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 provides statutory outdoor access rights and responsibilities for everyone, including specific obligations for land managers and local authorities. The Act gives the public a clear right of responsible non-motorised access to most land and inland water in Scotland for walking, cycling, horse-riding, undertaking water based activities such as canoeing and other recreational pursuits.  This right extends from most parks and open spaces in towns to more remote areas of the countryside. Although the Act allows a right of responsible access to most land and inland water, the majority of people prefer to use defined paths.

Core paths are defined as paths or routes, including waterways, which will assist the public exercising their access rights under the Act. They can be existing rights of way, managed routes, new routes or any other route that can provide the public with reasonable access. Core paths should be fit for purpose therefore the Core Paths system will comprise a variety of different path types, ranging from natural grassy swards to high-specification constructed paths, to satisfy the needs of all user types. The majority of core paths will be off-road, though some may be on pavements or quiet roads.  Whatever the surface or their location, core paths will be managed, promoted and sign-posted and will appear on Ordnance Survey Maps. The Core Path Network as a whole should accommodate all types of user – functional and recreational, for cyclists, horse-riders, canoeists, walkers and people with varying ability.

This basic framework of signposted and publicised routes will link into, and support, wider path networks. Together this resource (core paths and wider path networks) should provide access opportunities to natural and built attractions (including beaches, parks, woodlands, hills and historic sites), help to link settlements, improve access to and on inland water (by linking to riverbanks, loch shores, and launch points) and give access to the wider open countryside.

Core Paths will have wide management and public policy benefits. The suitable provision of core paths will assist in the management of access, particularly over agricultural land and can be integrated into planning developments. They will also assist in contributing to public policy objectives such as healthy living, sustainable transport and tourism strategies, therefore, have wide ranging interactions with all sectors.

Of course not all paths in an area will become Core Paths, but the ones that do will form a basic strategic network for Scottish Borders. Each local authority also has the right to review this Plan at any time, thereby ensuring that the network of Core Paths will evolve over time.

Core Paths should be viewed in relation to existing access rights, therefore public access to the outdoors can generally be described in three integrating levels:

1. open countryside access across open land, fields, hills and woodlands, which does not require the existence of paths
2. wider path networks incorporating all informal and formal paths and tracks
3. core paths providing a reasonable level of public access via a basic framework of publicised, signposted paths.

Within two years of the Council adopting the Core Paths Plan there is a duty for those routes to be accessible, signposted and promoted.  There will be an ongoing obligation to assert and keep free from obstruction these core paths.  However, there is no duty to maintain the routes.  Development of new or desired routes should be completed within two years of adopting the Plan. These routes will be dependent on survey, agreements between landowners, finances being available and construction works being achievable.  We currently manage a huge network of paths across the Scottish Borders.

 

Find out about some frequently asked questions on core paths.

View the Proposed Core Path Plan including Maps or comment on the Draft Core Paths Plan.