Rectory Lane is an important everyday road in the village of St Mawgan that has been used by the public with all forms of traffic for over a century.

Cornwall Council have made an order to the effect that the public cannot use Rectory Lane  with motor vehicles. The order records Rectory Lane as a restricted byway - the lowest class of public road that isn't fully available for the public to use, where the public have no right to drive any form of mechanically propelled vehicle, including mobility scooters, motorcycles, cars, and electrically powered vehicles.

Restricted byway classification was introduced as the lowest class of public road with the intention of extinguishing the public's entitlement to motor on some green lanes. The legislation was not intended to bite on ordinary roads, including the many minor ones in towns and villages across the country that are valuable to the public to drive their cars and motorcycles on.

St Mawgan Parish Council, the Green Lane Association (GLASS) and Trail Riders Fellowship (TRF) wish to save Rectory Lane for the benefit of the public.  GLASS and TRF are taking a case to the high court to have the restricted byway order quashed and seek to have the law clarified to better protect public access to public roads.

If we are successful, Cornwall Council will have to reconsider their decision and we hope that vehicular use by the public will be confirmed, and the law will be clarified to make it less likely that the public will lose access to their roads in future.

We are looking to raise £funds to cover the estimated costs of the case if we lose. If we win, any unspent funds will be retained by TRF and GLASS and used for similar legal action to protect public access to public roads.