Public Rights of Way

A Public Right of Way (PROW) is a highway over which the public have a right to pass and repass. The right determines the type of way and what can be used on them.

Types of Public Rights of Way

PROWs fall into 4 categories:

• Footpaths: the right of way is on foot and can be used by walkers, including wheelchair users and those pushing a pram or buggy
• Bridleways: a footpath that also allows horse riders and cyclists
• Byways open to all traffic (BOATs): carriageways over which the right of way is on foot, on horseback and for vehicular traffic, but which are mainly used as footpaths and bridleways
• Restricted byways: which will carry rights for all types of traffic except motorised vehicles

The Council manages approximately 16km of Public Rights Of Way in Brent.  They are all footpaths and one is both a footpath and cycle path. The majority are either adopted as public highways or fall within Brent’s freehold interest as parkland.

You can use our interactive map to find the locations of these rights of way. This map is for general purposes only. It is not the statutory Definitive Map.

Please note that there is no definitive map and statement for those parts of the Borough formerly falling within the Municipal Borough of Willesden, which were excluded from the survey undertaken by Middlesex County Council when preparing the definitive map.

Our responsibilities

The Borough's network of Public Rights of Way are protected in law, and all members of the public have a right to their use and enjoyment.

The main responsibility for public rights of way falls on local authorities. We carry out a number of tasks to ensure that our public rights of way are protected and kept in good order. We will work to ensure that:

• the public rights of way network is open and accessible to the public at all times
• the surfaces of rights and way are maintained to a standard that is appropriate for the type of user i.e. footpaths must be suitable for walkers
• public rights of way are correctly signed and way-marked to ensure that members of the public have a clear idea of the routes that are available to them
• the rights of the public to use and enjoy rights of way are protected
• the definitive map and statement, the legal record of public rights of way in Brent, is kept under constant review.

Read the Public Right of Way statement (.pdf, 162.4kB)