What happens to the byway, the locked gate and the badger hide if Mad Bess Cottage land is sold?

The only public right of way inside the land Hillingdon Council wants to sell at Mad Bess Cottage is a byway open to all traffic. A locked Council gate across it stops vehicles. We have asked what happens to the byway, the gate and the badger hide if the land is sold.

Object by 5pm on Thursday 22 October using our form.

What the Definitive Map says

The Council’s Definitive Map extract shows that the only public right of way within the sale area is the start of byway R104, along the drive from Breakspear Road North. A Byway Open to All Traffic (“BOAT”) is open to walkers, riders, cyclists and vehicles.

On the ground there is a locked Council gate across the start of the drive. It lets pedestrians through and stops vehicles. The Coopers “for sale” sign is fixed to it.

The Council’s Definitive Map extract shows byway R104 in red.

The BOAT is along the driveway itself, looking along it from the gate. There are magical, picture-perfect, public footpaths around the cottage plot.

What we want to know

• Is the gate authorised, for example by a traffic regulation order or a limitation recorded in the Definitive Statement, given that the byway is supposed to be open to all traffic?
• Will R104 stay open to all traffic after a sale, and could it ever be closed?
• If the land passes to the cottage owner, who becomes responsible for maintaining the byway and the gate?
• Is the badger hide inside the four acres, or reached across them? If so, will the sale guarantee continued public access?

We have had no answers. Selling land does not by itself remove a public right of way. But a right of way that nobody maintains, or a gate that nobody can show is lawful, is a problem for the people who use it.

How to object

If you use the drive, the byway or the badger hide, say how in your objection. The form has ready-made reasons on the byway and the hide, and you can edit them.

We are not saying public access will be lost. But could it be? We are asking the Council to say how it will be protected.

Read the next Mad Bess Cottage article:

What happened to the February notice for Mad Bess Cottage, and has the Secretary of State been asked?