PROWL - Public Rights of Way Langness

The Langness inquiry report, accepted by Tynwald, has found that six miles of footpaths around and across Langness deserve Rights of Way status.

Since the report's publication various landowners have tried to have it quashed and the case re-heard in the High Court.

Where we can, we'll keep you updated on the latest news.

Below:

* Progress update: 3rd October 2011. The ‘Langness Saga’ and the bigger picture - why this footpaths fight is important?
* A map of the six miles of Rights of Way now established for future generations around and across the Langness peninsular, as a result of the Prowl campaign, and the Langness inquiry.
* This is followed by older news

The ‘Langness Saga’ and the bigger picture

3rd October 2011: Since the publication of the Langness Peninsular Inquiry Report (which found that six miles of footpaths around and across Langness deserve Rights of Way status), various landowners have tried to have the report quashed and the case re-heard in the High Court.

They have tried to bring further evidence, tried to claim damages, and tried to get the Deemster to stand aside from hearing the case.

All of these attempts have failed.

The latest application – to file a ‘petition of doleance’ (or request a judicial review) well after the date by which it should have been filed – has also been dismissed.

What happens next?

The Department of Infrastructure must now ask the High Court's permission to change the Definitive Map so that the Rights of Way identified by the Langness inquiry can be shown. This hearing is called a Section 92 (7) Hearing. The Deemster has asked for the parties to agree an early date for this hearing, which will hopefully occur before Christmas 2011.

Once permission has given for the Definitive Map to be changed, the six miles of paths will immediately become Rights of Way.

The media

These matters are being covered by the media, but in a manner that reinforces the public perception that the issue is all about Mr & Mrs Clarkson, the lighthouse holiday cottage, and the exclusion of the public from 400 metres of coastal path. This was never the case.

Although the inquiry report has been published for over a year, there has still been no mention of the fact that the inquiry found that six miles of footpaths deserved Right of Way status.

History - why this footpaths fight is important

For the sake of people unfamiliar with the background of the recent court cases, perhaps we could offer a brief history:

From the very beginning, we saw the exclusion of the public from one section of the coastal path as being the thin end of the wedge, and asked the question ‘What will happen next?’ If no-one was going to challenge one landowner’s right to close one section, what would this landowner – or a future landowner, or a neighbouring landowner – do next?

First we accumulated evidence of public use of the circular coastal route south of the car park – never just part of it but all of it. Then we found evidence of public use of the lighthouse road, and the routes to Dreswick Harbour, Port Bravag and Langness Point. That done, we moved on to the various routes meeting at the Herring Tower, and then the paths radiating north and eastwards from the car park. And finally, to complete the set of the peninsular’s paths, we turned our attention to the coastal paths north of the car park – the eastern route to Golf Links Hotel/ Fort Island and the western route to Hango Hill - and the linking route from the ruin of Langness Farmhouse.

The Department of Transport held the Langness Peninsular Inquiry - not the Clarkson Lighthouse Holiday Home Inquiry, but while the media remained firmly fixated on the celebrity angle we tried to avoid it wherever possible, and got quietly on with the business of amassing evidence of public use ‘as of right’, and encouraging people to tell their own personal stories to the Inquiry Inspector.

When the inquiry began, there were no formal rights of way on Langness. You could drive to the car park, but there were no designated rights of way to allow you to go any further on foot. There were even question marks over the public’s right to drive along the road to the car park!

Previous Highways Authorities and Attorneys General had known that a problem existed, but the multiplicity of landowners and tenants had meant it had never been quite the right time to deal with it. When the Inquiry’s report was published, six miles of Rights of Way were found to have been created around and across the peninsular, including every one of the sections put forward by PRoWL.

The section behind the wire was important, and included the Island’s southernmost point/ the main seal colony/ the military installations/ the Mariners’ Graveyard and the fog horn, and we were very pleased that the Inspector found the case proved that there had been a long-established public footpath running through it. Nevertheless, this section of path represents only 4% of the network approved by the Inquiry. Isn’t it about time the media allowed the public to know the other 96% of our achievement?

The red dots on this simplified map show the main routes approved by the Inspector, at long last giving Langness its rightful place on the Manx Coastal Footpath.

If we had allowed one closure to go unchallenged, there is every chance that the extent of the public exclusion would have spread. We would never have forgiven ourselves for letting it happen. It was better to be smart before the event. It was better to put the matter on a sound legal basis. It was better to involve a neutral expert to examine the claims and counter claims. Reporters were fond of asking us whether we would accept the Inquiry’s findings, and were always told that we would, come what may. A year after the Report found in favour of six miles of Rights of Way on the Langness Peninsular, it’s time for others to do the same.

All
the confirmed Rights of Way on Langness

News: 17th March 2011

High Court rejects efforts to re-open Langness Inquiry

The Inquiry of July, August and October 2009 considered a six-mile network of footpaths around and across Langness, and found that more than 98% of them had become rights of way. (N.B. It was found that 100% of the paths claimed by PRoWL become rights of way.) The Department of Infrastructure has applied to the High Court to amend the Definitive Maps and Statement in relation to these paths, at what is known as a ‘section 92(7) hearing’.

Barristers acting for landowners and other parties sought to argue that the inspector was biased, the report was a matter of opinion rather than fact, and that much – if not all – of the evidence presented to the Inquiry should be heard again in the High Court. Deemster Doyle has considered these claims and rejected them.

As his judgment makes clear, ‘The section 92(7) hearing is not a de novo (starting again) hearing. It is not appropriate ….. for the court to hear any further evidence …. as to whether or not a statutory deemed dedication has occurred …. in relation to the relevant footpaths at Langness.

‘The findings of fact contained in the Report should be treated as evidence at the section 92(7) hearing and such findings should be treated as conclusive at such hearing.’
(In other words, the Inquiry found in favour of our claims: the ‘alleged’ rights of way have now been ratified and recognised.)

‘We must now set a date for the section 92(7) hearing and make progress towards the finalisation of this protracted matter.’

After more than six years defending the rights of the public to enjoy the footpaths of Langness, we can’t disagree!

More information at: http://www.judgments.im/content/J1120.htm

News: 14th May 2010

100% of the paths claimed by PRoWL have been approved as Rights of Way by the inspector.

Although one former landowner said people needed permission, and the other landowner said all path users were trespassing, the inspector found that all the routes had indeed been used as of right for enough years for them to have become highways, and needing to be added to the Rights of Way map.

To read the minister's statement to Tynwald and see the map of Rights of Way that will be created on and around Langness - Click here

To read the full 150 page inquiry report - Click here

It happened that May 1 saw the opening of the footpath around the airport runway extension, and May 11 has seen a further addition to the coastal path being accepted by the Department of Infrastructure.

Instead of reaching Derbyhaven from Santon Gorge and having to follow the road to Castletown, we will be able to walk along to the Golf Links Hotel and follow the eastern coast of Langness to the lighthouse, the foghorn, Port Bravag, Langness Point and then back along the west coast and Sandwick. Just like people used to do.

May 2010 has been a good month for footpath users around Castletown.

And the coastal path is not the only thing – there are the four paths to the Herring Tower (including the one that DAFF put a fence across!), the grassland paths radiating from the car park and the paths from the Haunted House. Although some parts of the media seemed wilfully blinkered on the matter, and never saw past the celebrity angle, and the 250 yards behind the barricades, we got on with the job of seeing a grand total of six miles of paths being recognised as highways

The barriers won’t be coming down by the weekend, but the DoI is working to see the report’s recommendations put into effect a.s.a.p. There have to be changes to the ‘definitive map’, these changes have to be approved by the High Court, the landowners have to be given a chance to challenge the changes (though they’ve had their chance already, really, so it’s hard to see that being a problem) etc etc. That’ll all waste the summer, which is a pity, but after five years of waiting, the end is in sight.

So, thanks, everyone.

Thanks to the hundreds of you - the people who phoned the DoT to protest when the obstructions first appeared, the people who signed an affidavit, the people who wrote letters and particularly the people who turned up in person at the Inquiry. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for everyone, being cross-questioned and confused by the finest barrister money could buy, but the honesty, quiet dignity and determination to see justice prevail shone through.

Thanks to the people who provided us with stationery, or stamps, or designed the leaflets, or paid for leaflets to be printed, or distributed them all over the south of the Island, or covered the cost of giving a free lunch to all Tynwald members who attended our briefing session. Thanks to the people who looked after the web site, or gave us legal advice (it wasn’t easy being threatened with court action on both sides of the Irish sea, and thoughts on case law and legal precedents were very helpful), or spoke up for us in Tynwald.

Thanks to the wider thousands – not just those of you who signed up as PRoWL supporters but also the people who stopped us in the street to say you were right behind us, and all your workmates were, too. It was all very heartening, and helped the campaign to keep going.

And finally, thanks to the ‘inner circle’ of the PRoWL steering group. You might wonder who they all were but if you realised that one advocate would send threatening letters to anyone he identified with PRoWL, you’d understand!

We did it.

The network of paths around and across one of the Island’s finest, most scenic, most wildlife-rich, most historic landscape has been preserved for ourselves and future generations to enjoy.

There are still final hurdles to overcome before the path is physically re-opened - but the hard battle is over. Thank you.

More info: Ian Costain, Public Rights of Way Langness
Tel: 837059
E-mail: prowl@manx.net

A few of the messages we've received from supporters since the announcement:

* A wonderful piece of news. Thank you, thank you!

* Hurrah! Well done!

* Just saw the victory via the BBC News website. (sorry I’m very late to the table...) Well done everybody. A victory for those who want to enjoy the great outdoors. For too long the minority have restricted access to the majority.

* Thank you for all your efforts that have been justly rewarded by the contents of the Langness Report - regardless of the results of any appeal. The question is why were your efforts necessary and why have we had to wait 5 years when it seems to me that, on the evidence of the Report, there was never a case to answer.

* Fan mail for PROWL. Thank you.

* Well done!! You have done a really excellent job, words cannot express the significance of what you have achieved, be proud of yourselves, be very proud.

* Well done!!!!!

* Please accept my grateful thanks for all that you have achieved. This is a quite marvellous result, and all of the PRoWL team deserve our gratitude for a tough campaign brilliantly fought.

* The Prowl group can be rightly satisfied for a job well done for the benefit of all the Isle of Man residents and visitors. Shame that some might not understand what they might have lost and have now gained!

* All residents on the Island are in your debt. Thank you for making our government uphold the law.

* Thank goodness! You did a wonderful job!

* Congratulations you prowlers. We are very proud of you up here in Ramsey. As birders we love Langness. As supporters of the campaign to revive Queen’s Pier we are very well aware how difficult it is to deal with the intransigent authorities in our island’s government.

* Hi, what great news, fantastic.

a a a a a For more info - or to support us, please get in touch: prowl@manx.net PROWL, 1 Castle Street, Castletown, IM9 1LF Or call Ian on: 01624 837 059 Support us now? Click here	t Working to win access around and across Langness for everyone
	The Langness inquiry report, accepted by Tynwald, has found that six miles of footpaths around and across Langness deserve Rights of Way status. Since the report's publication various landowners have tried to have it quashed and the case re-heard in the High Court. Where we can, we'll keep you updated on the latest news. Below: * Progress update: 3rd October 2011. The ‘Langness Saga’ and the bigger picture - why this footpaths fight is important? * A map of the six miles of Rights of Way now established for future generations around and across the Langness peninsular, as a result of the Prowl campaign, and the Langness inquiry. * This is followed by older news The ‘Langness Saga’ and the bigger picture 3rd October 2011: Since the publication of the Langness Peninsular Inquiry Report (which found that six miles of footpaths around and across Langness deserve Rights of Way status), various landowners have tried to have the report quashed and the case re-heard in the High Court. They have tried to bring further evidence, tried to claim damages, and tried to get the Deemster to stand aside from hearing the case. All of these attempts have failed. The latest application – to file a ‘petition of doleance’ (or request a judicial review) well after the date by which it should have been filed – has also been dismissed. What happens next? The Department of Infrastructure must now ask the High Court's permission to change the Definitive Map so that the Rights of Way identified by the Langness inquiry can be shown. This hearing is called a Section 92 (7) Hearing. The Deemster has asked for the parties to agree an early date for this hearing, which will hopefully occur before Christmas 2011. Once permission has given for the Definitive Map to be changed, the six miles of paths will immediately become Rights of Way. The media These matters are being covered by the media, but in a manner that reinforces the public perception that the issue is all about Mr & Mrs Clarkson, the lighthouse holiday cottage, and the exclusion of the public from 400 metres of coastal path. This was never the case. Although the inquiry report has been published for over a year, there has still been no mention of the fact that the inquiry found that six miles of footpaths deserved Right of Way status. History - why this footpaths fight is important For the sake of people unfamiliar with the background of the recent court cases, perhaps we could offer a brief history: From the very beginning, we saw the exclusion of the public from one section of the coastal path as being the thin end of the wedge, and asked the question ‘What will happen next?’ If no-one was going to challenge one landowner’s right to close one section, what would this landowner – or a future landowner, or a neighbouring landowner – do next? First we accumulated evidence of public use of the circular coastal route south of the car park – never just part of it but all of it. Then we found evidence of public use of the lighthouse road, and the routes to Dreswick Harbour, Port Bravag and Langness Point. That done, we moved on to the various routes meeting at the Herring Tower, and then the paths radiating north and eastwards from the car park. And finally, to complete the set of the peninsular’s paths, we turned our attention to the coastal paths north of the car park – the eastern route to Golf Links Hotel/ Fort Island and the western route to Hango Hill - and the linking route from the ruin of Langness Farmhouse. The Department of Transport held the Langness Peninsular Inquiry - not the Clarkson Lighthouse Holiday Home Inquiry, but while the media remained firmly fixated on the celebrity angle we tried to avoid it wherever possible, and got quietly on with the business of amassing evidence of public use ‘as of right’, and encouraging people to tell their own personal stories to the Inquiry Inspector. When the inquiry began, there were no formal rights of way on Langness. You could drive to the car park, but there were no designated rights of way to allow you to go any further on foot. There were even question marks over the public’s right to drive along the road to the car park! Previous Highways Authorities and Attorneys General had known that a problem existed, but the multiplicity of landowners and tenants had meant it had never been quite the right time to deal with it. When the Inquiry’s report was published, six miles of Rights of Way were found to have been created around and across the peninsular, including every one of the sections put forward by PRoWL. The section behind the wire was important, and included the Island’s southernmost point/ the main seal colony/ the military installations/ the Mariners’ Graveyard and the fog horn, and we were very pleased that the Inspector found the case proved that there had been a long-established public footpath running through it. Nevertheless, this section of path represents only 4% of the network approved by the Inquiry. Isn’t it about time the media allowed the public to know the other 96% of our achievement? The red dots on this simplified map show the main routes approved by the Inspector, at long last giving Langness its rightful place on the Manx Coastal Footpath. If we had allowed one closure to go unchallenged, there is every chance that the extent of the public exclusion would have spread. We would never have forgiven ourselves for letting it happen. It was better to be smart before the event. It was better to put the matter on a sound legal basis. It was better to involve a neutral expert to examine the claims and counter claims. Reporters were fond of asking us whether we would accept the Inquiry’s findings, and were always told that we would, come what may. A year after the Report found in favour of six miles of Rights of Way on the Langness Peninsular, it’s time for others to do the same. News: 17th March 2011 High Court rejects efforts to re-open Langness Inquiry The Inquiry of July, August and October 2009 considered a six-mile network of footpaths around and across Langness, and found that more than 98% of them had become rights of way. (N.B. It was found that 100% of the paths claimed by PRoWL become rights of way.) The Department of Infrastructure has applied to the High Court to amend the Definitive Maps and Statement in relation to these paths, at what is known as a ‘section 92(7) hearing’. Barristers acting for landowners and other parties sought to argue that the inspector was biased, the report was a matter of opinion rather than fact, and that much – if not all – of the evidence presented to the Inquiry should be heard again in the High Court. Deemster Doyle has considered these claims and rejected them. As his judgment makes clear, ‘The section 92(7) hearing is not a de novo (starting again) hearing. It is not appropriate ….. for the court to hear any further evidence …. as to whether or not a statutory deemed dedication has occurred …. in relation to the relevant footpaths at Langness. ‘The findings of fact contained in the Report should be treated as evidence at the section 92(7) hearing and such findings should be treated as conclusive at such hearing.’ (In other words, the Inquiry found in favour of our claims: the ‘alleged’ rights of way have now been ratified and recognised.) ‘We must now set a date for the section 92(7) hearing and make progress towards the finalisation of this protracted matter.’ After more than six years defending the rights of the public to enjoy the footpaths of Langness, we can’t disagree! More information at: http://www.judgments.im/content/J1120.htm News: 14th May 2010 100% of the paths claimed by PRoWL have been approved as Rights of Way by the inspector. Although one former landowner said people needed permission, and the other landowner said all path users were trespassing, the inspector found that all the routes had indeed been used as of right for enough years for them to have become highways, and needing to be added to the Rights of Way map. To read the minister's statement to Tynwald and see the map of Rights of Way that will be created on and around Langness - Click here To read the full 150 page inquiry report - Click here It happened that May 1 saw the opening of the footpath around the airport runway extension, and May 11 has seen a further addition to the coastal path being accepted by the Department of Infrastructure. Instead of reaching Derbyhaven from Santon Gorge and having to follow the road to Castletown, we will be able to walk along to the Golf Links Hotel and follow the eastern coast of Langness to the lighthouse, the foghorn, Port Bravag, Langness Point and then back along the west coast and Sandwick. Just like people used to do. May 2010 has been a good month for footpath users around Castletown. And the coastal path is not the only thing – there are the four paths to the Herring Tower (including the one that DAFF put a fence across!), the grassland paths radiating from the car park and the paths from the Haunted House. Although some parts of the media seemed wilfully blinkered on the matter, and never saw past the celebrity angle, and the 250 yards behind the barricades, we got on with the job of seeing a grand total of six miles of paths being recognised as highways The barriers won’t be coming down by the weekend, but the DoI is working to see the report’s recommendations put into effect a.s.a.p. There have to be changes to the ‘definitive map’, these changes have to be approved by the High Court, the landowners have to be given a chance to challenge the changes (though they’ve had their chance already, really, so it’s hard to see that being a problem) etc etc. That’ll all waste the summer, which is a pity, but after five years of waiting, the end is in sight. So, thanks, everyone. Thanks to the hundreds of you - the people who phoned the DoT to protest when the obstructions first appeared, the people who signed an affidavit, the people who wrote letters and particularly the people who turned up in person at the Inquiry. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for everyone, being cross-questioned and confused by the finest barrister money could buy, but the honesty, quiet dignity and determination to see justice prevail shone through. Thanks to the people who provided us with stationery, or stamps, or designed the leaflets, or paid for leaflets to be printed, or distributed them all over the south of the Island, or covered the cost of giving a free lunch to all Tynwald members who attended our briefing session. Thanks to the people who looked after the web site, or gave us legal advice (it wasn’t easy being threatened with court action on both sides of the Irish sea, and thoughts on case law and legal precedents were very helpful), or spoke up for us in Tynwald. Thanks to the wider thousands – not just those of you who signed up as PRoWL supporters but also the people who stopped us in the street to say you were right behind us, and all your workmates were, too. It was all very heartening, and helped the campaign to keep going. And finally, thanks to the ‘inner circle’ of the PRoWL steering group. You might wonder who they all were but if you realised that one advocate would send threatening letters to anyone he identified with PRoWL, you’d understand! We did it. The network of paths around and across one of the Island’s finest, most scenic, most wildlife-rich, most historic landscape has been preserved for ourselves and future generations to enjoy. There are still final hurdles to overcome before the path is physically re-opened - but the hard battle is over. Thank you. More info: Ian Costain, Public Rights of Way Langness Tel: 837059 E-mail: prowl@manx.net A few of the messages we've received from supporters since the announcement: * A wonderful piece of news. Thank you, thank you! * Hurrah! Well done! * Just saw the victory via the BBC News website. (sorry I’m very late to the table...) Well done everybody. A victory for those who want to enjoy the great outdoors. For too long the minority have restricted access to the majority. * Thank you for all your efforts that have been justly rewarded by the contents of the Langness Report - regardless of the results of any appeal. The question is why were your efforts necessary and why have we had to wait 5 years when it seems to me that, on the evidence of the Report, there was never a case to answer. * Fan mail for PROWL. Thank you. * Well done!! You have done a really excellent job, words cannot express the significance of what you have achieved, be proud of yourselves, be very proud. * Well done!!!!! * Please accept my grateful thanks for all that you have achieved. This is a quite marvellous result, and all of the PRoWL team deserve our gratitude for a tough campaign brilliantly fought. * The Prowl group can be rightly satisfied for a job well done for the benefit of all the Isle of Man residents and visitors. Shame that some might not understand what they might have lost and have now gained! * All residents on the Island are in your debt. Thank you for making our government uphold the law. * Thank goodness! You did a wonderful job! * Congratulations you prowlers. We are very proud of you up here in Ramsey. As birders we love Langness. As supporters of the campaign to revive Queen’s Pier we are very well aware how difficult it is to deal with the intransigent authorities in our island’s government. * Hi, what great news, fantastic.
	"When the stranger first comes upon the beauties of this spot he will be delighted." Jenkinson's Practical Guide to the Isle of Man