Before you apply
We recommend contacting us before applying to the DfT. We can review your proposal and give you an ‘approval in principle’.
If changes are needed after the DfT publishes a draft order, the process may need to restart. This could delay your application and reduce the benefit of applying early.
Stopping up a highway
What does 'termination of highway rights' mean?
Termination of highway rights means the public’s legal right to use a road or path is permanently removed. This process is called stopping up.
Highway rights cannot be removed just because a route hasn’t been used, or because someone has enclosed or built on the land. This applies no matter how long the route has been unused or obstructed.
How can a highway be stopped up?
A legal order is required to remove or divert highway rights. There are two main ways to apply:
Section 247 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990
This route is usually used by developers or consultants working on their behalf. It allows highway rights to be removed to support a development, such as building a new road.
These applications are handled by the Secretary of State through the Department for Transport (DfT). Staffordshire County Council is consulted as the local highway authority.
Planning permission must either be in place or in progress. Since the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, applications can be submitted before planning permission is granted to speed up the process. However, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that removing highway rights is necessary for the development to go ahead.
Under Section 116/117 Highways Act 1980
You will usually be a local resident or frontager and wish to have the highway stopped up for non-developmental reasons, e.g. to privately purchase the land for your own needs. This request is made to the County Council under Section 117 Highways Act 1980 who will make an application to the Magistrates Court on your behalf under Section 116 Highways Act 1980. This doesn't require planning permission.
