Breadcrumbs
NCAF 15/1 CROW Act - Updates on Progress, enclosed for information
Mapping
Area 3 (Central Southern England)
The consultation period for Area 3 closed on 3rd December. Comments received are currently being determined.
Area 4 (Upper North West)
The draft map for Area 4 was issued on 10th December. Roadshows have taken place across the area and have been well attended.
Appeals
Area 1
The appeal period for mapping area 1(South East) closed at midnight on 7th January 2003. Although at the time of writing, the Agency has not received all the appeals through to them, it is understood from the Planning Inspectorate, that a total of 186 appeals were received, of which 25 have been disallowed as not having valid grounds for appeal.
As anticipated, the vast majority of the appeals were received in the last working week of the period, in excess of 65%. The fact that the Christmas and New Year holidays fell at the end of this period may have had some effect on this distribution.
Those appeals so far received by the Agency are widely distributed throughout Area 1, with no concentration apparent in any particular region.
By far the vast majority of cases so far received have opted for the written representation procedure, with a few requesting an inquiry as their procedural preference.
Similarly most cases are in relation to the mapping of open country, and not registered common land.
Hearings, for those cases in area 1 requesting this as their procedural preference, are planned to start in April. As far as possible the venues will be chosen at locations convenient to the appeal site. Notices of hearings will be posted in local papers.
The public can find out which appeals are live by accessing the Planning Inspectorate website at: www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/access.
Mapping Area 2
The appeal period for mapping area 2 (Lower North West) is open until the 18th February 2003. Based on the number of appeals so far received the Planning Inspectorate estimate that in excess of 400 appeals will be received for area 2.
As yet, an insufficient number of appeals for area 2 have been received by the Agency to allow any analysis, beyond that the majority so far received have opted for written representation as their procedural preference.
Local Access Restrictions
The following updates NCAF on progress with work on restrictions since the summary circulated to members in November 2002.
We have now completed analysis of our consultation on local access restrictions, and background research into health and safety considerations. Drawing on these, we have made good progress in drafting the guidance we shall issues to relevant authorities under section 33 of the Act. We plan to discuss the detail of this with the relevant authorities in England during the spring, and we are liaising closely with the Countryside Council for Wales as these proposals develop. The final document will be issued to all relevant authorities in England, and to other authorities with an interest in management of access under the Act. It will also be publicly available through the Agency’s website.
We see a need for the advice we issue to land managers to be more ‘user friendly’ than that drafted for relevant authorities. This should include a simple explanation of the system introduced under the Act, and step by step instructions for the submission of notifications and applications for directions. We shall draft this guidance in light of the helpful comments made during the public consultation last spring. The final guidance will be available to land managers in advance of the restrictions system opening for business, which is likely to be towards the end of 2003.
We are continuing our work to establish the administrative system which will support the relevant authorities’ restrictions casework.
Diversity Review: Report to National Countryside Access Forum, February 2003
Background
The application of the principal of equality of opportunity to the range of publicly - and privately - funded goods and services has become commonplace in multicultural Britain. It is not, though, commonplace when in comes to accessing what the countryside has to offer.
The Rural White Paper (2000) commits Government to addressing the issue of equity in relation to access to the countryside, whether it is near or distant to where people live. It reads ( p.138):
'By 2005, we will carry out a full diversity review of how we can encourage
more people with disabilities, more people from ethnic minorities, more
people from the inner cities, and more young people to visit the
countryside and participate in country activities. Initially, we will do this
by seeking their views on what they need to enjoy the countryside. Then
we will draw up a plan of action.'
The review forms part of the Countryside Agency’s statutory duty for the provision of access and enjoyment to the countryside and the Agency will be developing a plan of action for DEFRA.
As well as aiming to increase access and recreational opportunities, the review consider whether 'getting out' has potential to reduce people's experience of social exclusion.
Progress
Scoping research commenced in August 2002 and will be completed by March 2003. The research team has reviewed the literature for the existence of baseline data describing countryside visiting by people from minority ethnic and black communities, people with disabilities and young people and their reasons for participation or non-participation. The contractors are also reviewing existing projects and best practice, which are addressing under-representation.
To date, the findings are that there is a lack of baseline data describing the level and breakdown of visits and a lack of evidence of the benefits of countryside visiting. The contractors’ task has also been to provide the Countryside Agency with appropriate methodologies for addressing the evidence gaps.
This scoping research is being reported at a seminar taking place at the end of February.
Design of the Review
The Diversity Review is likely to fall into two halves, national level evidence gathering through research and action research to test methods to address under-representation.
Evidence gathering
This half will:
ź build on the Great Britain Day Visit Survey through use of composite indexing with other national surveys to establish pattern and type of visits made;
ź carry out longitudinal research to establish the value of countryside access over life times through, for example, purchase of questions in National Child Development Study, returning to participants of previous projects;
ź research the factors affecting participation by under-represented groups, to cover cultural attitudes, perceptions of barriers as well as actual physical barriers;
ź survey providers and facility managers (for example. the National Trust, country parks, National Parks etc.) to ascertain attitudes towards under represented groups and activities in place or planned which are designed to meet their needs.
There is likely to be one management contract for this national evidence gathering research.
There will also be a small group of Area Based Research Action projects designed to test methods for facilitating sustainable countryside visiting by under represented groups. These will also be managed under contract. They are likely to test the potential of media about countryside visiting generated by groups themselves - those involved in the Mosaic Project for example - to increase visiting by others from their community.
A separate evaluation framework will be developed for these projects which will have wider application.
Sharing information
The Countryside Agency will be sharing information - and seeking views - on the diversity review through its website. There will also be regular seminars over the life of the project and a conference at the end of 2005. The Agency is exploring more hands-on involvement in the review process by ‘would-be’ users of the countryside and organisations providing ‘facilities’, which are cost-effective as well as participative.
