Stopping up orders are usually made to allow development to take place or because the public highway is no longer necessary. Public highway can include roads, streets, footpaths, public car parks, grass verges and footways. Not all roads, streets or footpaths are public highways.

We have the power to stop up areas designated as highway land by making orders known as a 'stopping up' order.

The term 'stopping up' means that once such an order is made, the highway land ceases to be a highway, road or footpath ie the highway rights are extinguished in law.

If an order is successfully made on the public highway, then the highway rights over the land will be extinguished (in some circumstances this is conditional on any new diversion route being put in place) and the land will revert to the owner of the sub-soil.

Please note that if a highway stopping up order is obtained, this does not give consent for any planning permission that may be required (for example, if there is an intention to enclose the land and/or change its use to garden land). In this case you would need to liaise directly with our planning officers.

Current stopping up orders

There are no current stopping up orders.

View the full guidance and application form for stopping up orders

Stopping up orders privacy notice