Sustainable transport and recreation
England's countryside is an enormous asset to town and country alike. It has the potential to provide unparalleled opportunities for recreation and relaxation, and in doing so, can improve the health and well being of our nation. Added to this is the huge contribution that the countryside makes to rural economies. Tourism provides nearly 400,000 jobs throughout rural England, and sustainable links between cities, towns and their surrounding countryside bring visitors into rural areas and keep tourism thriving.
Wherever they live, people travel for pleasure. The challenge is to provide convenient and affordable transport options to enable sustainable travel within the countryside. Our environment is a precious asset to be cherished and conserved for the benefit of everyone, no matter where they live or work.
Cars can have a negative impact on the countryside, especially in National Parks and other beauty spots where noise, visual intrusion and the need for car parking space can degrade the countryside that people come to enjoy.
Rural Transport Partnerships and Projects
Between spring 2001 and spring 2005, the Countryside Agency (one of Natural England's founding bodies) supported more than 100 new transport projects to encourage access to the English countryside. The Countryside Agency used the Wider Welcome Rural Transport Partnership (RTP)programme to demonstrate schemes designed to make the countryside more accessible to visitors, whether they lived in urban or rural parts of England and whether or not they had access to a car.
It also supported schemes to give visitors who had their own transport greater choice to travel to or through the countryside in greener, more sustainable ways, including the ability to undertake linear or point-to-point walks without having to return to a parked vehicle. It included supporting new bus, train and even boat services to improve access for everyone.
Wider Welcome RTP schemes were about encouraging walking, cycling, sustainable tourism and greater visitor spend in the countryside in ways which caused least harm to the environment.
