Coronavirus: How to safely use public rights of way

The Government advice around Coronavirus is clear – stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.

One of the exceptions is to exercise once a day close to your home.

In Blackburn with Darwen we are lucky to be surrounded by beautiful countryside and many of our residents are using it regularly to enjoy walks, runs and bike rides.

While it’s nice to get fresh air, it means more people than usual are using gates and stiles and also passing through rights of ways which may be connected to people’s homes and workplaces.

Often these rights of ways cross agricultural and forestry land.

Here’s some helpful tips that will help keep all our residents safe:

• Always follow the government guidance on social distancing by keeping at least 2 metres apart from anyone who doesn’t live in your household at all times. If a path is too narrow to allow this, avoid it.
• Keep on the public footpaths and adhere to the rights of way.
• Close any gates behind you. Be mindful that other people will be passing through these too and that landowners may need to use them multiple times a day. Wash your hands/sanitise as soon as soon as possible after touching shared surfaces.
• Keep dogs under control and on a lead when appropriate.
• As well as being a nuisance for other residents, dog dirt can carry germs that are harmful to livestock. Please pick up after your pet, bag it and take it to the nearest public bin or home to place in your burgundy bin. Remember, you can be fined for not following these simple steps.
• Travel for exercise is not classed as ‘essential travel’ and so, where possible, you should use paths that you can access from your home. Read our latest update on going outdoors here.
• If there is a particular problem with people gathering on rights of way or cycleway/ walking trails, then the Police should be informed. They have the power to disperse any groups behaving in such a way.
• Please avoid farms and stables. Not only are these people’s workplaces, they can also be dangerous with large machinery in operation.

As a council, we oversee the public rights of way network in-line with national government legislation and guidance and at present there is no advice or requirement for the public rights of way network to be closed or restricted in any way.

If you are a landowner, you can find more information on our website.

However, this is the worst public crisis for a generation and government guidelines are being reviewed daily.

For the very latest updates, check back to The Shuttle or follow the council’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.