Fighting for countryside access

---

The Ramblers discuss forestry, access to countryside and the government's "seemingly farcical red tape challenge."

The Ramblers, Britain's walking charity, has been at the heart of countryside issues since its creation. Our longest running campaign – involving 70 years of campaigning for access to the countryside - was finally rewarded with the introduction of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW), a major move forward for access in England and Wales that opened up large areas of mountain, moor, heath land, down land and registered common land for walkers. But by no means did it mark an end to Ramblers fight for access and rights of way.

The Act has its restrictions and is yet to match the success of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, vigorously campaigned for by the Ramblers. For the rest of Britain there is still plenty of ground to cover, the CRoW Act did not address access to coastal areas, woods and riverside, three areas we are actively engaging with through our campaigns.

We believe that the nation's waterways should be held and operated for the public benefit and that access should be free and as extensive as possible. The recent appointment of Ramblers chief executive, Tom Franklin, as one of the Trustees of the new charity that will lead British Waterways into the third sector is a positive step towards seeing access to our rivers and canals secured for the public to enjoy.

With the future of access to rivers and canals promising room for improvement, both coastal access and woodlands are at the front of our minds in 2011 with important decisions being made about access.

Government proposals to sell off state owned forests caused public outcry. Thankfully a last minute u-turn resulted in the creation of the Independent Panel on Forestry Policy in England and delayed any threat to our country's woodlands, but our faith in the government's commitment to safeguarding access has been left on shaky ground.

Ramblers chief executive, Tom Franklin is sitting on the Panel, and it is reassuring to have someone who understands the needs of walkers and access issues pushing the agenda forward.

The woodland walk is a pastime that all enjoy, and it is crucial that access is guaranteed so that future generations don't encounter a land of forbidden forests. The Ramblers is calling for all woodland, not just those currently within the Public Forestry Estate, to be classified as open access under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act; ensuring that everyone has the right to a woodland walk, no matter where they live.

The government's seemingly farcical red tape challenge, which puts at risk entire Acts of Parliament dedicated to protecting where we could walk by labelling it 'red tape', leaves us wondering what this means for their commitment to an All England Coastal Path. With the All Wales Coastal Path set to open in 2012, Ramblers will be actively campaigning to ensure that England will be following in their footsteps.

Despite these challenges, so much is still being gained. The Ramblers have been uncovering new ground by reaching a growing number of walkers in our towns and cities, for example those that have been involved with our very successful BIG Lottery-funded project, Get Walking Keep Walking (GWKW), working with inactive people in some of the most deprived areas in England. The project is aimed at helping people, especially in towns and cities, improve their health and well-being by providing free locally based walking programmes.

A recent analysis of Get Walking Keep Walking reveals that for every £1 spent on the project, an additional £3.61 has been generated in social, economic and environmental value. With the reforms that are proposed in the public health white paper, including a ring-fenced budget and a move to prevention rather than cure, we hope that more Local Authorities will assume responsibility for public health, and commission the Ramblers to help get people walking.

Every highway authority in England and Wales is obliged by law to keep a legal record of their public paths by putting them on a 'definitive map'. This ensures a level of protection for footpaths and for people's rights of way. Inner London is the only exception to the rule. What this means is that none of the footpaths people use every day are protected or officially recorded.

The Ramblers are trying to change this by pushing for these paths to be added to a definitive map and to encourage the creation of new paths to improve access in the city. Although not legally obliged to do this, all it takes to get started is for councils to pass a resolution stating that a definitive map will be created. The next step is to add even one path to the map and our network of volunteers is committed to helping with the rest of the process.

This movement took a giant step forward with Lambeth Council being the first to officially sign up to committing their urban paths to the map. This means that the paths in Lambeth will finally have the same level of protection as paths in England and Wales, we hope they will be the first of many to take no this challenge.

We want walkers to have the freedom to walk without obstruction; we want access to our woodlands, waterways and green spaces to be protected, and the value of walking for our nation's happiness and health to be recognised. We want to inspire people to walk for transport, for health, and for fun. In short, we want to get the nation to their feet. So, start walking, start looking around you while you walk and thinking about your walking environment and how you can help improve it. Keep access at the front of your mind and better yet, join us and take the first step toward creating a walking Britain.

Throughout recess, ePolitix.com will be focusing on a different policy theme each week. This week we are featuring articles with a focus on the green agenda.