Part IVE+W Maintenance of Highways

Maintenance of highways maintainable at public expenseE+W

43 Power of parish and community councils to maintain footpaths and bridleways.E+W

(1)The council of a parish or community may undertake the maintenance of any footpath or bridleway within the parish or community which is, in either case, a highway maintainable at the public expense; but nothing in this subsection affects the duty of any highway authority or other person to maintain any such footpath or bridleway.

(2)The highway authority for any footpath or bridleway which a parish or community council have power to maintain under subsection (1) above, and a [F1non-metropolitan] district council for the time being maintaining any such footpath or bridleway by virtue of section 42 above, may undertake to defray the whole or part of any expenditure incurred by the parish or community council in maintaining the footpath or bridleway.

(3)The power of a parish or community council under subsection (1) above is subject to the restrictions for the time being imposed by any enactment on their expenditure, but for the purposes of any enactment imposing such a restriction their expenditure is to be deemed not to include any expenditure falling to be defrayed by a highway authority or district council by virtue of subsection (2) above.