Breadcrumbs
NCAF 15/2 Access Information Programme
2. The Agency seeks the Forum’s advice on the development of, and priorities for, an information programme for the commencement of the new access rights in summer 2004.
Background
3. The Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 (Part 1, Section 20) requires the Agency to take appropriate steps to ensure that the public are informed of the extent of and means of access to access land, and that both the public and persons interested in access land are informed of their rights and obligations under that statutory right of access.
4. The CROW Act also gives the Agency a duty to issue a code of conduct both for visitors and for those with legal rights over the land, including the owner or tenant and any owners of sporting or common rights.
5. Since the passage of the CROW Act the Agency has published information on the new rights and responsibilities given under the Act and on the mapping programme. We are now looking ahead to the information programme we need to have in place for commencement in summer 2004.
Current information work
Country Code
6. We put a paper on ‘Steps Towards a New Country Code’ to the Agency’s Board in September 2002. The Board agreed proposals for consultation on a new Code. The Board advised that the Code needed to be supported by explanatory material; that it should provide simple and positive messages; and that it should be targeted in different ways for different audiences.
7. Since the September 2002 Board meeting Agency and CCW staff have participated in internal consultations on the format for the new Code and the messages that should be included in it. COI Communications have consulted Agency Board and CCW Council members and selected stakeholders (NFU, CLA, EN, RA, NT, YHA, National Parks) on approaches to developing and promoting a new Country Code.
8. The responses to the consultation have given us a steer on how to develop the Code. The responses indicate that:
a. the style and format of current Code is dated and dictatorial - the new Code should be welcoming and positive;
b. the launch of the Code should be tied in with the commencement of open access rights;
c. a key objective of the new Code should be to build a sense of shared responsibility among all users of the land - suggestions of a mirror code for land managers and users were seen as potentially divisive;
d. the Code should be a thematic grouping of issues rather than a long list of points. This would enable flexibility in the way the themes could be communicated to different audiences;
e. promotion to young people should be made through their leisure activities as well as via education and the national curriculum - suggestion that the Code should be put on OS maps;
f. a separate countryside helpline should be developed in partnership with other organisations; and
g. partner organisations are keen to help promote and launch the Code.
9. An external consultation is planned to run between March and May 2003. It will test the themes for the Code and the tone of voice of the messages. We plan to run focus groups for key stakeholders to raise awareness of the Code and to build partnerships for promoting the Code to different audiences. A wide external consultation will be run in parallel with the focus groups. The consultation paper will be put on the Agency and CCW website, advertised in Countryside Focus and posted on Agency learning networks.
10. An information programme is currently running to inform the public on how they can participate in, and comment on, the mapping of access land. This involves a series of roadshows and publications explaining the legislation, process and the Agency’s role. Press releases and statutory notices in regional newspapers are used to alert the public as to when and where comment can be made.
Future work on the mapping programme may require further information dissemination using other channels.
11. An information strategy to support the restrictions programme will be developed to ensure both users and land managers are aware of how and where restrictions can be applied.
Developing an information programme for commencement
12. We invite the Forum’s response on a range of issues which will help us to put our future information programme together. These include:
a. awareness and impressions on the new access legislation and our work on it - can members give us feedback on the levels of awareness and understanding of the legislation plus any impresssions on progress with implementation?;
b. how do we best get the messages about rights and responsibilities across to people? - can members suggest ways in which their organisations through their information channels and/or those of others can assist us in informing people about the new access; and
c. given the available funds, what do members consider should be the main objectives, messages and priorities for additional information work on access mapping and how best would these be delivered?
d. how much would members like to be involved in testing approaches and publicity routes? - initially we would like participation in the Country Code consultation;
e. we plan to develop a common symbol denoting access land - would members welcome consultation on this?
Next steps
13. The next steps in the development of an access information programme are:
a. Country Code paper to the Agency’s Board on 20 February Country Code consultation between March and May 2003;
b. Benchmarking awareness - market research among interest groups and the general public in areas that have already experienced the draft mapping procedure - as soon as is feasibly possible and similar benchmarking for those areas currently in or entering the consultation process.
c. Information strategy to the Agency’s Board by April 2003
