Public access, private land, and spatial politics: The geographical importance of the right of way in Coventry, England

Abstract

The passage of the UK's 2000 Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW Act) is celebrated for opening huge tracts of private land for public use. The CRoW Act codified a New Labour manifesto promise: to introduce the "right to roam." It made 2 million acres of private mountains, moorland, heathland, and downs accessible to the public for walking and picnicking.The media focus on the right to roam left other parts of the CRoW Act neglected. Sections 53-56 of the Act discussed specific spatial rights that allow the public to travel through private lands: rights of way. They stipulated that any English or Welsh right of way -a public easement over private land allowing a user to pass and repass along a specific route -that was not registered on a County Council or Unitary Authority's (also known as Highway Authority) "Definitive Map and Statement" by a specific deadline would be "extinguished" or "stopped up.