Rights of Way Improvement Plan

Loving our Local Landscapes

This is our fourth Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP4) entitled 'Loving our Local Landscapes'.

ROWIP4 is a 10-year long-term plan, which considers Public Rights of Way (PROW) within the county and sets an ambitious but realistic strategic vision of how to improve our PROW network over the next 10 years, from 2024 to 2034

Our vision is to put County Durham on the map for its beautiful countryside and PROW to attract both residents and tourists to visit the outdoors and improve their health and wellbeing.

Strategic objectives

The strategic objectives of ROWIP4 are as follows:

• Managing and enhancing the PROW network so it is fit for the 21st century.
• Promoting a PROW network that contributes to the Green Economy by marketing the county's high quality environment.
• Empowering communities and individuals to 'Move More'.
• Ensuring the county's PROW are accessible to people of all abilities.

The strategic objectives in ROWIP4 deliberately reflect key council plans and strategies.

The headings of the eight policies to be consulted on are as follows:

1. Managing and Delivering a High-Quality Access Network.
2. Awareness of Public Rights of Way and other routes.
3. Making our Network Accessible '10 in 10'.
4. Empowering Communities to 'own' their Right of Way Network.
5. Promoting the Economy and Cultural Identity of County Durham through our Public Right of Way network.
6. Ensuring the Countryside Code and access legislation is followed, and Landowners are respected.
7. Incorporating Public Rights of Way in New Development.
8. Monitoring the use of our Public Rights of Way.

Improvement and delivery plans

• Rights of Way Improvement Plan 2024-2034 (PDF) [2MB]
• Rights of Way Delivery Plan 2024-2027 (PDF) [145KB]