Two dummy runs next year for countryside access plans
Two dummy runs next year for countryside access plans
By Isabel Davies
TWO pilot projects to trial how the governments new rights of access to open countryside will work in practice, have been announced by the Countryside Agency.
Speaking at an Access to the Countryside conference in Winchester, Marian Spain, south- east and London regional director for the Countryside Agency, said pilot projects would be set up in the south-east and the north-west.
The exact areas have not yet been selected but would be "big", she revealed. Precise locations will be decided early next year.
Right of access
"A new legal right of access will not in itself make sure that people can enjoy the countryside sustainably. The new access to open countryside needs to be properly managed and integrated with other types of access. Our integrated access projects will show how to do this," she said.
One of the aims of the projects will be to discover how to ensure people can get into the countryside without creating other problems.
Dr Alan Woods, Country Landowners Association environment adviser, told the conference he was worried by the "wait and see" attitude of the government.
Liability questions
The government had to answer questions on liability, compensation and how the rules were to be enforced before it published its Bill, he insisted. The CLA has already sent the government a list of 150 queries.
"Landowners shouldnt be liable for the safety of the public," he said, pointing out that while liability on rights of way lies with the Highways Agency, under the new access arrangements the burden could fall on the landowner.
And Dr Woods found an unlikely ally in Marian Shoard, a long time campaigner for a right to roam across all land. She described the governments outline proposals as a "disappointment for walkers and a betrayal for landowners".
Ms Shoard said the government was hurtling towards a system which was over-complicated and counter-intuitive and insisted walkers could not be expected to know where they could walk legally.
But Christopher Braun, head of the countryside legislation division in the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions said the government had no intention of introducing an "unfettered right to roam".
He added that the government believed allowing the public greater access to parts of the countryside should not cause problems to landowners.
Although the government hopes to introduce the Bill into Parliament in February, discussions will probably continue until the end of the session in September, he said.