The Definitive Map and Statement (DMS) are legal documents that all highway authorities must keep. Although it is called definitive, it is anything but definitive! It gets its name from being the last in a series of maps first created under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949. This act of parliament was groundbreaking. Amongst other things, it gave rise to England's National Parks. The Definitive Map and Statement contain information about the footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to traffic (BOATs) within each council's area.
Due to the nature of public rights of way, not everything that exists has been correctly recorded on the Definitive Map. Generally, Rights of Way departments at local councils do a reasonable job of recording their information. However, like so many departments, they are understaffed and short of budget. The vast majority of council Rights of Way officers do their best to ensure the Definitive Map is correct, available and usable.
Whilst every route shown on the Definitive Map is legally usable, the converse is not true. Many ways are shown on the Definitive Map and carry higher rights. For example, many footpaths can be lawfully used by horses and cyclists. But you will need strong evidence before you use them this way. Additionally, many routes can be legally used but do not feature on the Definitive Map.
Since the 1949 Act, several other acts have tried to clear up the confusion. The Countryside Act of 1968 required all highway authorities to reclassify roads used as public paths (RUPPs) as something else. This was not very successful and another attempt was made in 1981, which again largely failed. Against this background, in 2006 Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has changed the status of roads used as public paths (RUPPs) to Restricted Byways and suspended motorised vehicle rights over those routes. It is also made a major change and set a deadline of the 1st of January 2026. After this date, most routes currently omitted from the Definitive Map and Statement will disappear and be lost forever.
Because the 2026 deadline is looming, it is imperative that everyone with interest in public rights of way bands together to correctly record the ways that do exist and to ensure that the ways that are not recorded get included on the Definitive Map. For this reason, Wayfinder has set up Project 2026 to coordinate various user groups And bring the Definitive Map up to date. The premise of Project 2026, like Wayfinder, is to record public rights at the highest defensible level.
Some highway authorities and user groups, especially walking groups, wrongly refer to the Definitive Map as the "Footpath Map". They forget or choose to ignore that higher rights also exist over some ways for other users.