Carol Ramsden has specialised in public rights of way law for over 30 years.
She helps clients with the wide variety of problems created by the complex and archaic nature of much public rights of way legislation. Her special focus is on securing changes to the existing public rights of way network. Recorded and claimed routes can severely affect the privacy and security of private dwellings, impact adversely on the needs of modern agriculture and constrain, or even defeat, development.
Her clients range from private individuals to large country estates and farms, and from self-builders to national house builders and local Councils. She has an enviable record of achieving changes by knowledgeable and effective consultation and negotiation – and avoiding public inquiries.
Carol also advises on managing both formal and informal public access, on maintenance and enforcement issues and on how to react to claims that unrecorded public rights of way exist.
Carol is based in our Ipswich office but has a national practice and travels widely. She currently has clients as far apart as Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Essex. She also takes full advantage of video telephone calls to advise on public access issues where a visit is impractical but understanding the character of a route and the surrounding area is critical to her advice.
Recent work highlights
Advising a Parish Council on use of Community Infrastructure Levy funding to create new public access for cyclists.
Advising a national house builder on the delivery of S106 obligations for new public rights of way.
Advising a private landowner on achieving the diversion of a public footpath from close to their home to improve privacy and security.
Experience & education
2025 Trustee of Adventures Offshore, a charity providing residential sailing voyages for young people
2022 Joined Defra’s Stakeholders Working Group as a landowner representative to press for the implementation of pending public rights of way legislation and contributed to the ‘Presumptions Guidance’ published in August 2023
2004 – 2024 Parish Clerk
2005 Joined Birketts LLP
2004 – 2007 Director of IPROW
2004 Distinction in Masters degree, Public Rights of Way and Countryside Access Management
BA Hons English Language and Literature
