State visit
The President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and Mrs Brigitte Macron will visit Windsor, under invite from the King, from Tuesday 8 July to Thursday 10 July 2025. Find out more.
Landowner declaration register, guidance and forms.
Landowner Statements and Declarations Highways Act 1980 Section 31(6) Commons Act 2006 Section 15A : Guidance notes and link to Application form.
The personal details supplied on this form will be held by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Data Protection Act (DPA).
Please read our privacy notice to see full details of how we use your information.
How can a public right of way or town/village green become established?
Public rights of way can come into being by deemed dedication. A public right of way such as a footpath or a bridleway may be recorded if it is shown that there has been at least 20 years uninterrupted use of a way by the public ‘as of right’ (without force, secrecy or permission). This is known as ‘deemed dedication’. Anyone can make an application (under section 53 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981) to have a route recorded or upgraded on the Definitive Map and Statement of Public Rights of Way (the legal record).
A town/village green may be registered if it is shown that the inhabitants of a locality, or a neighbourhood within a locality, have used an area ‘as of right’ for a period of at least 20 years for the purposes of lawful sports and pastimes. The 2006 Act allows anyone to make an application to register a piece of land as a new town/village green.
The Borough Council has a duty to investigate all such applications that are submitted.
A landowner can show that they have no intention of dedicating a public right of way or challenge recreational use in relation to a town/village green if they undertake ‘overt’ actions to make it clear to the public that they have no ‘right’ to cross or be on his/her land.
An overt action may be:
Section 31(6) of the 1980 Act enables a landowner to deposit a statement accompanied with a map, followed by a declaration, with the Borough Council (“an appropriate council”), acknowledging any existing public rights of way across their land at the same time as declaring that they have no intention to dedicate any further routes to the public.
Section 15A of the 2006 Act enables a landowner to deposit a landowner statement accompanied with a map with the Borough Council (“a commons registration authority”), to protect that landowner’s land from registration of a town or village green.
This process has no effect on the existence of public rights of way already shown on the definitive map or otherwise shown to carry public rights, including by deemed dedication by virtue of 20 years use, before the map and statement was deposited. Please note that this process does not apply to cases where an application to record a public right of way is based on historical documentary evidence.
Once a map and statement are lodged with the Borough Council, the documents and all the details within them become available for public inspection.
Registers must be kept in paper and electronic format for the public to view on request. Information in the electronic deposit register that appears on the Borough Council website will include a copy of the statement (signatures will be removed), including name and address of the landowner.
The personal details supplied on this form will be held by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) and privacy notices.
The Commons (Registration of Town or Village Greens) and Dedicated Highways (Landowner Statements and Declarations) (England) Regulations 2013 applies to any application made on or after 1st October 2013 to:
a) deposit a map and statement under section 31(6) of the1980Act;
b) lodge a declaration under section 31(6) of the1980Act;
c) deposit a statement under section 15A (1) of the 2006 Act.
There is a standard fee of £376 including VAT for the processing of new applications, plus an additional fee of £76 including VAT for updating the register for subsequent declarations.
Apply (GOV.UK website)