It still remains that the North York Moors National Park could hand back responsibility for managing public rights of way in the park to North Yorkshire Council.
The council is ultimately responsible for their upkeep but has historically delegated the management to the park authority, but in recent years hasn't provided any funding.
The park has said that it can't afford the £230,000 annual cost on its own.
Members of the Parks Authority are raising their concerns and Councillor Arnold Warneken believes that the standards are likely to slip should the responsibility be that of the council.
The current delegation agreements between the National Park Authority (NPA) and two Local Highway Authorities - North Yorkshire Council (NYC) and Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) date from 2016 and 2017 respectively.
These in essence delegate to the NPA, the Highway Authority’s responsibility for the management of the entire network of public rights of way within the National Park.
Under the current Delegation Agreements, the NPA manages 2,357 km of public rights of way. This includes the following obligations:
- The repair or replacement of 720 bridges (approx.36 per year).
- The repair or replacement of 3,300 roadside signposts (approx. 330 per year).
- Liability for a minimum of 25% contribution to the cost of repair or replacement for approx. 300 gates and 250 stiles per year.
- Responsibility for the surface of all RoW.
Another member of the North Yorkshire National Park Authority - Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff expressed her concern regards relying upon handing back responsibility to the council, not necessarily resulting in the best outcome for the national park.
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