Coastal access a real threat to rural businesses, says CLA

The government is being warned that proposals to introduce a coastal corridor around Great Britain will inflict serious commercial damage on rural businesses.

The Country Land and Business Association is hosting junior DEFRA minister Jonathan Shaw in Devon on Tuesday (12 February) where he will meet West Country landowners concerned about the impact of the government’s proposals.

Among their concerns are the potential adverse effects on the profitability of coastal businesses and on farming and the devaluation of private homes.

CLA south west director, John Mortimer, will take Mr Shaw, on a whistle-stop tour of Cornwall and Devon to show him how effective the South West Coast Path is in delivering access and supporting tourism around the region.

At the same time the minister will see examples of businesses and individuals who would suffer serious losses if proposals for a statutory, unmapped coastal corridor were pushed through.

“The minister has offered us a unique opportunity to make our case – and we will be certain to give him a comprehensive view of all the issues.

“It’s a chance for him see at first hand why the South West Coast Path works so well and what real threats Natural England’s access proposals pose.”

During the visit the minister will meet farmers whose management regimes will have to be changed to accommodate unregulated access, businesses whose unique selling point would be lost if privacy were to disappear and individuals whose houses would be seriously devalued by the proposal.

The visit follows a meeting between the CLA and the chairman of Natural England, Sir Martin Doughty.

The CLA’s vice president, Harry Cotterell, told Sir Martin that existing demand for access to the coast was already being met and that the acquisition of private property rights without compensation was totally unacceptable.

Mr Mortimer added: “Natural England claims that this proposed new right of access could be integrated with land management and the environment and that the proposals will be good for the public, good for wildlife, good for the landscape and good for landowners, too.

“If that were indeed the case, we would support these proposals unreservedly, but we say it isn’t. We will provide case-based evidence that there are better ways of enabling both the public and private owners to get the maximum benefit from increased access to the coast without creating significant losers.”