Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is primarily a police responsibility.  Although the Council sympathise with the nuisance and aggravation caused to residents by some users, it is currently legally difficult to gate many Public Rights of Ways (PROW)s.  The gating of private accesses however, is primarily the responsibility of those with the legal responsibilities in the land.

Any request for the gating/closure of routes should be submitted in writing to this department and the route marked on a plan.  To assist in this process the Council operate two protocols (available on request).  Protocol A relates to Council controlled footpaths.  Protocol B concerns private accesses and leaves the responsibility for closing such accesses to private interests.

Any assessment on a request to close a PROW will be based on the applicable legal powers.  New highway powers to allow gating of public rights of way for ASB reasons were introduced in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, however details of such powers are subject to regulations.

Alternative measures can be taken and such schemes are underway or proposed on the PROW network at Buck Tunnel, Cradley Heath and Highfield Road, Rowley Regis to improve the PROW's and their surrounding environment to combat ASB and crime.

Any crime and ASB issues raised in inquiries will be forwarded on to the relevant Town Team and the Councils Crime Reduction officers to see if alternative measures can be taken in addition to/instead of considering closure.

From the PROW perspective one of the primarily concerns in making such an assessment is to establish whether the route is a public hihgway or not.  However, any gating scheme on land that has unknown highway status runs the risk that the route may be claimed back as a PROW.  This is a risk for the landowner to take, although if a route is well used the likelihood is that this possibility willl increase.  Further information on this can be found under the Changes to the PROW Register.

Please contact the PROW Team for an assessment of any proposals to gate of accesses.

New Regulations have been issued, following changes to the law, allowing the gating of certain public highway for the purposes of reducing Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour.  These are due to come into force 1st April 2006.  Initial enquiries about gating should be directed to the Community Safety Team.