Definitive map | Central Bedfordshire Council

Biggleswade excluded area orders

Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: creating a definitive map for the formerly excluded area of central Biggleswade

For the last 60 years the centre of Biggleswade has been excluded from the Council’s Definitive Map of Public Rights of Way because of its fully developed urban nature. This means we do not have a legal record of those paths and alleys that members of the public have a right to use as public footpaths or bridleways.

We have mapped those paths that we think have been walked or cycled within the area shown by the pink shading on the map (PDF 2.6MB) and have identified 37 routes within this area which we consider to either be public footpaths or bridleways. These are generally urban alleyways, and are shown by the pink and green dotted lines on the map.

We have written to a large number of residents as we believe that they either own, lease, or live in property adjacent to one of these routes which we consider could be a public footpath or bridleway and held a number of drop-in clinics. We have considered the responses we received and have now made the relevant legal orders, called definitive map modification orders, to legally record these routes.

The orders adding a number of public footpaths and bridleways to the formerly excluded fully developed centre of Biggleswade were confirmed on 22 January 2018.

Copies of the public orders, plans and confirmation notices can be found below.