Who looks after public rights of way in the East Riding?
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is responsible för the management of all recorded public rights of way within the administrative boundary.
Many public rights of way run across privately owned land and the responsibility for looking after rights of way rest with the council although the landowner or farmer has obligations as well.
A small group of routes are not recorded on the list of streets that are maintained by the council, by virtue of the way in which they were dedicated as highways. These routes are treated slightly differently in maintenance terms.
We are responsible for:
Signposting rights of way where they leave the road
Waymarking paths along their route where necessary
Keeping rights of way in reasonable repair and clearing surface vegetation
Ensuring that they are free from obstructions
Ensuring that farmers and landowners reinstate rights of way after ploughing or cropping
Helping farmers and landowners to maintain gates in good condition
Maintaining the definitive map and statement, which is the legal record of public rights of way
Consideration of applications for the legal diversion of public rights of way Considering applications to modify the definitive map
Landowners and farmers are responsible for:
Keeping all paths free from obstruction
Cutting back overhanging vegetation
Reinstatement of paths after ploughing and keeping them clear of growing crops 
Maintaining gates and stiles
Not ploughing paths that run along a field edge
Can new structures be erected on a public right of way?
Existing structures such as stiles and gates can be replaced by landowners, but in doing so they must ensure that these are easy to use and meet the principles of the British standard for gaps, gates and stiles as far as is practical.
New structures erected on the public rights of way network must be authorised by the council as highway authority. Strict rules and conditions apply to this process, and often it is not possible for a new structure to be authorised. Unauthorised structures remain an obstruction and the council reserves the right to remove these.