“A local walking group has asked to allow a walkway though my land. They want to put up stiles at the entrance and exit to the property. Should I give them permission? Who is responsible for insurance, damage to trees, fences etc? Could the walkway potentially be inserted into my farm map in future?”
Protecting against establishment of right of way
Public access to the countryside for walking in Ireland is largely confined to statutory rights of way and permissive access through public or private lands. There is a distinction in Irish law between public and private rights of way. A public right of way is a person’s right of passage along a road or path even if the road or path is not in public ownership. A public right of way is a strip of land (normally a road or path) usually leading from a public place to another public place along which the public has a legal right to travel.
Very few in Ireland
There are very few registered public rights of way in Ireland that are not maintained as public roads. A private right of way is the right to enter on to private lands but only for the purposes of gaining access to or exiting from another piece of land. Private rights of way are about the management of private land, typically being arrangements between neighbours and therefore not relevant to the public.
Generally, landowners seek to prevent the establishment of a public or private right of way across their land. This can be achieved by withdrawing permission to enter the land for at least one day per year. Under Irish law, in the absence of a right of way, access is at the discretion of the landowner and he/she may prohibit access or withdraw consent without prior notice.
Duty of care and insurance
requirements
Under Irish law, occupiers of land have a duty of care to those entering their property, including trespassers. The Occupiers Liability Act 1995 contains specific provisions designed to facilitate the use of land for recreational activity and the duty owed depends on the category of persons who come onto the property, ie visitors, recreational users or trespassers.
Under the act, a recreational user is a person present on the premises or land of a person without charge (other than a reasonable charge for parking facilities) for the purposes of engaging in a recreational activity. In this situation, the owner of the land is obliged to not intentionally injure or harm the recreational user or act with reckless disregard for the recreational user’s welfare.
Essentially this means that if a landowner is deemed to fail to prevent danger when they were aware of it and a walker is subsequently injured, then the landowner can potentially be liable for that injury.
Public liability insurance
The landowner should ensure that members of the walking group have public liability insurance to cover their liability for injury or damage caused to the landowner/occupier or to another third party as a result of their own negligence.
The representative bodies for most countryside recreation activities arrange insurance cover for registered members. The National Trails Office/Irish Sports Council in conjunction with the local authorities arranges insurance for waymarked walking routes and other recreational trails in Ireland. The policy indemnifies private landowners along these routes against claims from recreational users. In any event, it is advisable that all landowners have public liability insurance whether or not there is recreational activity on their land. This covers injury, disease or property damage caused to a member of the public arising from landowning/farming activities.
Under Irish law, in the absence of a right of way, access is at the discretion of the landowner and he/she may prohibit access of withdraw consent without prior notice
A landowner charging recreational visitors for entry (as opposed to a reasonable charge for parking) increases his duty of care to that owed for visitors. In relation to visitors, the landowner is under a duty to take such care as is reasonable to ensure that a visitor to the premises does not suffer injury or damage by reason of any danger due to the state of the premises.
Restriction
However, the landowner may restrict this duty to the lower duty not to intentionally injure or act in reckless disregard of the visitor or his property by warning entrants of the limits of his potential exposure for liability thereby putting the visitor entrant on notice that he ought to take more care of himself. The notice should be placed at the main entrance to the premises, must be reasonable and should be stated in clear, concise language.
While the landowner is under a duty to maintain stiles, footbridges and other structures primarily provided for use as a recreational use in a safe condition; the walking group could assume that duty if they provide the stiles for their own use.
Damage to property
The Leave No Trace initiative ensures that the conservation of the local environment and avoiding causing disturbance to on-site activities such as farming is considered by all walkers and visitors to the countryside. However, in the absence of someone owning up to causing damage or witnesses as to who might be responsible for damage to trees, fences, etc, it might be difficult to prove who caused such damage and to recover compensation for same.
Comhairle na Tuaithe was established in February 2004 to address priority issues such as access to the countryside, developing a countryside code and developing a countryside recreation strategy. Further information in relation to property rights, obligations and responsibilities for recreation in the Irish countryside is available at http://www.environ.ie/en/countrysidecouncil/
A public right of way is a strip of land (normally road or path) usually leading from a public place to another public place along which the public has a legal right to travel.A private right of way is the right to enter on to private lands but only for the purposes of gaining access to or exiting form another piece of land.While the landowner is under a duty to maintain stiles, footbridges and other structures primarily provided for use as a recreatonal use in a safe condition, the walking group could assume that duty if they provide the stiles for their own use.The landowner should ensure that members of the walking group have public liability insurance. Read more
To read the full Farm Law Focus, click here.
“A local walking group has asked to allow a walkway though my land. They want to put up stiles at the entrance and exit to the property. Should I give them permission? Who is responsible for insurance, damage to trees, fences etc? Could the walkway potentially be inserted into my farm map in future?”
Protecting against establishment of right of way
Public access to the countryside for walking in Ireland is largely confined to statutory rights of way and permissive access through public or private lands. There is a distinction in Irish law between public and private rights of way. A public right of way is a person’s right of passage along a road or path even if the road or path is not in public ownership. A public right of way is a strip of land (normally a road or path) usually leading from a public place to another public place along which the public has a legal right to travel.
Very few in Ireland
There are very few registered public rights of way in Ireland that are not maintained as public roads. A private right of way is the right to enter on to private lands but only for the purposes of gaining access to or exiting from another piece of land. Private rights of way are about the management of private land, typically being arrangements between neighbours and therefore not relevant to the public.
Generally, landowners seek to prevent the establishment of a public or private right of way across their land. This can be achieved by withdrawing permission to enter the land for at least one day per year. Under Irish law, in the absence of a right of way, access is at the discretion of the landowner and he/she may prohibit access or withdraw consent without prior notice.
Duty of care and insurance
requirements
Under Irish law, occupiers of land have a duty of care to those entering their property, including trespassers. The Occupiers Liability Act 1995 contains specific provisions designed to facilitate the use of land for recreational activity and the duty owed depends on the category of persons who come onto the property, ie visitors, recreational users or trespassers.
Under the act, a recreational user is a person present on the premises or land of a person without charge (other than a reasonable charge for parking facilities) for the purposes of engaging in a recreational activity. In this situation, the owner of the land is obliged to not intentionally injure or harm the recreational user or act with reckless disregard for the recreational user’s welfare.
Essentially this means that if a landowner is deemed to fail to prevent danger when they were aware of it and a walker is subsequently injured, then the landowner can potentially be liable for that injury.
Public liability insurance
The landowner should ensure that members of the walking group have public liability insurance to cover their liability for injury or damage caused to the landowner/occupier or to another third party as a result of their own negligence.
The representative bodies for most countryside recreation activities arrange insurance cover for registered members. The National Trails Office/Irish Sports Council in conjunction with the local authorities arranges insurance for waymarked walking routes and other recreational trails in Ireland. The policy indemnifies private landowners along these routes against claims from recreational users. In any event, it is advisable that all landowners have public liability insurance whether or not there is recreational activity on their land. This covers injury, disease or property damage caused to a member of the public arising from landowning/farming activities.
Under Irish law, in the absence of a right of way, access is at the discretion of the landowner and he/she may prohibit access of withdraw consent without prior notice
A landowner charging recreational visitors for entry (as opposed to a reasonable charge for parking) increases his duty of care to that owed for visitors. In relation to visitors, the landowner is under a duty to take such care as is reasonable to ensure that a visitor to the premises does not suffer injury or damage by reason of any danger due to the state of the premises.
Restriction
However, the landowner may restrict this duty to the lower duty not to intentionally injure or act in reckless disregard of the visitor or his property by warning entrants of the limits of his potential exposure for liability thereby putting the visitor entrant on notice that he ought to take more care of himself. The notice should be placed at the main entrance to the premises, must be reasonable and should be stated in clear, concise language.
While the landowner is under a duty to maintain stiles, footbridges and other structures primarily provided for use as a recreational use in a safe condition; the walking group could assume that duty if they provide the stiles for their own use.
Damage to property
The Leave No Trace initiative ensures that the conservation of the local environment and avoiding causing disturbance to on-site activities such as farming is considered by all walkers and visitors to the countryside. However, in the absence of someone owning up to causing damage or witnesses as to who might be responsible for damage to trees, fences, etc, it might be difficult to prove who caused such damage and to recover compensation for same.
Comhairle na Tuaithe was established in February 2004 to address priority issues such as access to the countryside, developing a countryside code and developing a countryside recreation strategy. Further information in relation to property rights, obligations and responsibilities for recreation in the Irish countryside is available at http://www.environ.ie/en/countrysidecouncil/
A public right of way is a strip of land (normally road or path) usually leading from a public place to another public place along which the public has a legal right to travel.A private right of way is the right to enter on to private lands but only for the purposes of gaining access to or exiting form another piece of land.While the landowner is under a duty to maintain stiles, footbridges and other structures primarily provided for use as a recreatonal use in a safe condition, the walking group could assume that duty if they provide the stiles for their own use.The landowner should ensure that members of the walking group have public liability insurance. Read more
To read the full Farm Law Focus, click here.
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