Wildfires are no longer a distant concern. Across the UK, changing weather patterns are increasing the frequency and severity of fire events, and public bodies and local authorities are finding themselves at the centre of the legal and operational response, often without warning and without pre-prepared protocols.

If a wildfire breaks out within your local authority area, there are certain things that only you, as a local authority, can do. If you haven't prepared for that moment, you may find yourselves reacting under pressure, without clear legal authority or an audit trail to defend the decisions taken. 

We have advised several public bodies on wildfire risk management and the legal framework for responding to fire events on protected sites, and have seen first-hand where the gaps in preparedness tend to lie. 

A problem not always spotted

Natural England, as the government's adviser on the natural environment in England, has numerous powers to respond to wildfire risk on protected sites. It cannot, however, close or limit access to protected sites where there are public rights of way (PROW). Walkers on a footpath that crosses a site subject to a closure direction, have every right to be there. 

The closure of PROW is the responsibility of the local highway authority, who have the power to make a temporary traffic regulation order under section 14 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. An order of this type cannot be made by Natural England, nor the fire and rescue service.

Does your authority have a fast-track internal process for receiving a wildfire notification and acting on it within hours rather than days? If not, that is a gap worth addressing before it becomes a problem.

Other legal duties your authority should have on its radar

The legal framework around wildfire risk touches more areas of local authority work than most realise:

• National Park Authorities hold powers as the 'relevant authority' under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW 2000) to issue emergency directions excluding or restricting access to land. Where relevant, consider liaising with the National Park Authority in your area, for a combined approach. 
• Long term risks on specific PROW may warrant formal diversion or extinguishment applications under the Highways Act 1980 or the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, which can take time to initiate.
• Certain common land in urban areas (urban commons) is subject to a separate right of access under section 193 of the Law of Property Act 1925, which is independent of the CRoW 2000. This is a more complex area, and specific legal advice should be sought in relation to urban common land.
• Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 imposes a biodiversity duty on public authorities, meaning that inaction, in the face of a known wildfire risk on a protected site, carries its own legal exposure. The Environment Act 2021 reinforces this with strengthened biodiversity duties and long-term environmental improvement targets.
• Where your local authority is part of a Local Resilience Forum, wildfire preparedness should be embedded in the Forum's community risk register and emergency response protocols.

Five steps to wildfire preparedness

Local authorities that are genuinely prepared for wildfire events tend to have done a handful of relatively straightforward things:

• Mapped the PROW that cross or adjoin sites identified by Natural England as carrying high fire risk, and established which routes would be candidates for emergency closure.
• Put a named point of contact and a fast-track decision-making process in place for section 14 orders, so that if a call comes in, the response is measured in hours, not committee cycles.
• Used Local Resilience Forum membership to agree a joint wildfire risk management protocol with Natural England, the relevant fire and rescue authority, and the police, covering who notifies whom, in what form, and within what timescales.
• Reviewed land management practices and public access arrangements on any council-managed land to ensure notices, records, and permissions are in order.
• Ensured that relevant officers, across highways, countryside access, emergency planning, and legal, understand their roles.

Seeking specialist advice

Our public law team has direct experience advising public bodies and local authorities on the legal dimensions of wildfire risk management. 

We can help you to:

• Carry out a review of your PROW exposure, access management arrangements and internal decision-making protocols in the context of wildfire risk.
• Draft or review emergency protocols and multi-agency coordination.
• Advise on longer term PROW management, biodiversity duty compliance or urban common restrictions. 

Wildfire risk is not going away, and this summer is a timely prompt to ask whether your local authority is as prepared as it needs to be. If you would like to discuss your wildfire preparedness, or if you have a live situation you need advice on, please contact our public law team.