The Right of Way

For decades people walked freely from the passageway beside 48 Malling Street, along the service road behind Caffyns, to the Brooks Road roundabout. Lidl closed the route in June 2025. Recording it as a public footpath stops the landowner treating pedestrian access as an optional feature of their development.

The passageway beside 48 Malling Street, outlined in red — The passageway beside 48 Malling Street

The Order: RWO 330

On 27 July 2026 East Sussex County Council made The East Sussex (Public Footpath Lewes 60) Definitive Map Modification Order 2026, reference RWO 330. The Council concluded there was enough evidence to record the route formally. It runs from A to E on the Order map, a direct diagonal across the site.

Order map: proposed footpath Lewes 60 from A at Malling Street to E near the Brooks Road roundabout — The Order map. Download the Order map (PDF)

The Order has been made but not yet confirmed. If objections are made and not withdrawn, the Council cannot confirm it and it goes to the Planning Inspectorate, which can take many months.

Lidl's redesigned plan

In August 2026 Lidl circulated a redesigned preliminary plan showing a “Connecting footpath” through the site. Pedestrian access is now part of Lidl's design. But Lidl's footpath does not follow RWO 330. Below, the Order route is traced in pink on Lidl's plan.

Lidl's August 2026 site plan with the RWO 330 route traced in pink, cutting diagonally through the store building and car park — The RWO 330 route (pink) on Lidl's preliminary plan. Illustrative, not survey-grade.

Lidl's route goes round the store, past the entrance and trolleys, through the car park circulation and beside the service access. It is longer, less direct, and part of the supermarket's operation rather than an independent through-route.

A footpath on a planning drawing does not move or extinguish a public right of way. If RWO 330 is confirmed, Lidl would need a separate diversion order, and if that were opposed Lidl would not have the final say. Lidl's documents say “connecting footpath”. They do not mention RWO 330, a public right of way, or a diversion. We do not know whether Lidl accepts the Order or will object to it.

Three separate processes

The Definitive Map. East Sussex County Council decides whether public rights exist along the ordered route.
The planning application. The South Downs National Park Authority decides whether the development is acceptable. Permission does not move the path.
Any diversion. If the Order is confirmed and the development cannot accommodate it, Lidl must apply to divert the path. The convenience and quality of the replacement route would be tested.

Where we are

The Order was made on 27 July 2026 and the 42-day objection period has passed.
We do not yet know whether objections were made. We are asking the Council.
We are waiting for Lidl's full planning application.

The footpath can no longer be ignored. The job now is to protect the ordered route and, if Lidl seeks a diversion, to make sure the public is not left with a longer, less direct or compromised substitute.

The Order is on the County Council's register at row.eastsussex.gov.uk: click ‘DMMO Register’ and find RWO 330.