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We have welcomed the new report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature. The report, which was launched in parliament on 15 September, contains a comprehensive set of recommendations which will ensure that England’s outdoors becomes more accessible to more people.
Access campaigners before the launch in parliament. Photo: British Mountaineering Council
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has floated the idea of a green paper on access, but so far nothing has appeared. The report will give Defra a head start, with its 40 recommendations, gathered from more than 750 organisations and individuals who responded to the inquiry over the summer.
The main recommendations are:
- Expanding access: Establish statutory rights to responsible access across a broader range of landscapes, including but not limited to inland waters, woodlands, and other suitable natural environments, and for a broader range of recreational activities, including wild camping, paddling, swimming, cycling, caving, and horse riding.
- Improving existing access: Establish an Access to Nature Investment Strategy enabling local highway authorities to apply for resources based on assessed local needs and opportunities, aligned with national priorities. Remove barriers like stiles, and simplify footpath upgrades.
- Accessing ‘blue spaces’: Expand access rights for swimming and non-motorised craft on inland waters through new legislation or amendments to existing acts, such as the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW), an Access to Nature Bill, or the upcoming Water Reform Bill.
- Children spending time outdoors: Establish a requirement for all children and young people to experience at least one residential outdoor experience to ensure inclusion for all.
- Promoting health and well-being outcomes: Enshrine access to nature as a statutory public health responsibility by amending the Health and Social Care Act.
- Planning and transport: Improve public transport links to and from green and blue spaces, including increased frequency, expanded routes, and affordability.
- Governance, strategy, and accountability: Publish a long-term government plan to improve public access to nature, with a clear vision, strategy, and legally binding targets, backed by an Access to Nature Investment Strategy to direct funding.
- Awareness and education: Overhaul the Countryside Code to promote access and responsible behaviour. Implement a National Ranger Service, and transform the Ordnance Survey app into a free, universal tool.
The report recommends that we establish statutory rights to activities including swimming. Photo: Jaz Blakeston
Says our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook: ‘We are pleased that many of our proposals in our submission to the inquiry have been included in the report.
‘Successive Labour governments have a fine record of legislating for access to the countryside, with the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the Countryside Act 1968, and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, to name a few. Yet this government has so far been silent on the subject. We urgently need it to act.
‘Public access is not a nice-to-have, it is essential to our daily life. It should not just rest with Defra to deliver this, all government departments should recognise the benefits of public access, to physical and mental health, the protection of nature, and the economy. People and nature should be at the heart of government thinking.
‘We shall keep up the pressure for action on access; this report gives our campaign a vital boost.’