This Code of Practice will be aimed at all land managers - owners, farmers and sporting tenants - who have an interest in open countryside. 
Recreation

Breadcrumbs

NCAF4/3 Codes of practice for occupiers

Introduction 1. This Code of Practice will be aimed at all land managers - owners, farmers and sporting tenants - who have an interest in open countryside.

2. It will:
· help them understand what the new right of access means to them and others; 
· offer positive advice and guidance on their specific rights and responsibilities;
· explain how they can help themselves and the public;
· refer them to other sources of help and advice. 

Suggested Structure

  • What is 'Open Access Land' ?
  • What is not 'Open Access Land' ?
  • How To Find Out Where Open Access Land is 
  • Land Managers Rights and Responsibilities
  • The Public's Rights and Responsibilities
  • Trespass
  • Existing Rights of Access and The New Legislation
  • Management Issues
  • Closures/Restrictions
  • Rangers 
  • Public Safety and Occupiers Liability
  • Improving Access To All Land 
  • Find Out More  

What is 'Open Access Land' ?
3. A general description of where the public's new legal right of access will be, and definitions and descriptions of various types of access land (e.g. common land).

What is not 'Open Access Land' ?
4. Categories of land to which the new right does not extend, e.g. cultivated land, buildings or their curtilage.

How To Find Out Where Open Access Land is 
5. Where to see or get hold of the statutory 'National Access Map', or other sources of information like Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps, Internet information, leaflets explaining what the 'National Access Map' contains, how it was produced, how regularly it will be reviewed etc. 

Land Managers Rights and Responsibilities
6. Summary of what land managers must and must not do to comply with the new legislation. A section on what action Local Authorities can take to ensure that land managers meet these new duties.

The Public's Rights and Responsibilities
7. Summary of the main rights and responsibilities. Cross reference to user code. List (or annex) of activities which are not allowed on access land. List (or annex) of existing legal controls/sanctions. (For example, the unauthorised dumping of rubbish in the open air is a criminal offence under the Refuse Disposal (Amenities) Act 1978). 

Trespass
8. Brief summary of law of trespass. Examples of restricted activities (for example lighting fires). Explanation of the process of prosecuting a civil offence and the available remedies. Explanation of examples where trespass is a criminal offence (for example in relation to railway land). Explanation of how aggravated trespass (1994 Act) applies. 

9. 'Best practice' when dealing with a case of trespass.

Existing Rights of Access and The New Legislation
10. Explanation of relationship between new right of access, access provided voluntarily by a landowner, Government access schemes (such as Countryside Stewardship), existing access agreements, existing access to urban commons, and access over rights of way.

11. Encouragement to promote, maintain (or create) rights of way as a management tool. 

Management Issues
12. Explanation of the range of ways in which the new right of public access can be positively managed - to the benefit of the owner, the occupier, the sporting tenant, the visitor, wildlife, livestock and the land itself. This will include information on access points, signage, the control of dogs, etc.

13. Reference to further information on grants and incentive schemes.

Closures/Restrictions
14. Comprehensive explanation and guidance on a land manager's right to close or restrict access for a number of days each year. This will include detailed advice on:

  • the use of the 28 days of discretionary closures and restrictions on access; 
  • 'other closures or restrictions' i.e. those in addition to the 28 days discretionary closures;
  • the reasons for a closure or restriction (nature conservation and national heritage, land management, etc.)
  • the system of notification and application that will be needed; 
  • how the public will be informed of temporary closures or restrictions; and 
  • the criteria by which the Countryside Agency or, where appropriate, the National Park Authority, will judge applications for 'other closures or restrictions'.  

Rangers 
15. Explanation of Local Authorities' power of appointment and the remit of a ranger service. 

Public Safety and Occupiers Liability
16. The occupiers' duty of care to the public using the new right of access and 'best practice' in managing that duty of care. 
Reference to other legislation which may also have an impact on the management of open access land in terms of public safety, such as the Mines and Quarries Act 1954 and the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. 

Improving Access To All Land 
17. Advice on improving the public's enjoyment of all of the countryside, not only open access land. This will include details of all existing, and any new access schemes, and procedures for creating rights of way. 

Find Out More
18. The Countryside Agency has produced several publications to provide greater detail about access to open countryside. These include..........