This paper reports on progress in developing what has become a single 'code' guidance document, setting out the main rights and responsibilities of all parties. 
Recreation

Breadcrumbs

NCAF 6/6 Draft codes of practice for occupiers and users

1. The Government's March 1999 Framework for Action on access to the countryside in England and Wales said: The Countryside Agency and Countryside Council for Wales will prepare codes of practice for land managers, users and local authorities (including national park authorities) which set out rights and responsibilities. The agencies will be expected to consult widely in preparing the codes.

2. This commitment reflected the earlier Government consultation paper on access to open countryside, which envisaged "codes of practice for owners and occupiers on the use of closure powers", and a Country Code-based "code of practice for walkers".

3. The National Countryside Access Forum considered outline proposals for both codes in February. Several useful points emerged about style and content - though discussion was hampered a little by the fact that the Bill had not then been published. There was also some uncertainty about the context within which this particular guidance sits - the range of guidance and other documents that might be produced. 

4. This paper reports on progress in developing what has become a single 'code' guidance document, setting out the main rights and responsibilities of all parties. Attached to this paper are:

a. a summary of the range of publications that is currently proposed (see Annex 1), and the way that this particular document sits within it; and 

b. an early draft of the 'code' for users and occupiers, setting out rights and responsibilities under the legislation (se Annex 2) 

5. The proposed local authority guidance is likely to appear as a Government circular once legislation has been enacted. The Countryside Agency will be making a full input to the drafting of this circular later in the year.

Preliminary consultations 

6. Informal discussions were held with key national organisations in December and January about priority messages for codes and guidance. 

7. When the National Countryside Access Forum (NCAF) discussed initial papers at its meeting on 1 February, it emphasised the need to:

a. provide clear factual guidance on the rights and responsibilities created by the new legislation; 

b. remit more detailed explanatory material to linked publications; and 

c. in particular, separate the guidance onlocal restriction arrangements and mapping arrangements from the core factual guidance. 

Proposed structure of core publications

8. Drawing on these earlier deliberations and internal discussion since, we are now considering producing the range of publications outlined at Annex 1. This would create a themed 'family' of publications to inform users and/or occupiers about different aspects of the new access arrangements. These would be backed up by updated versions of the Access Charter and "Out in the Country" to provide more broadly-based guidance on countryside access as a whole (on all types of land and for all types of recreation). As part of the process of updating these publications, it is proposed to review the current Country Code (which forms part of the Access Charter) to make it as effective as possible in encouraging responsible enjoyment of the countryside. 

9. These various guidance publications would complement, and help to explain both primary legislation and the secondary legislation (such as regulations and orders) that will be made under it. Annex 1 suggests what legal status, if any, each of the proposed guidance publications should have. Having considered the detail in the primary legislation, and anticipating further detail in regulations and orders, it seems now that there is only likely to be a need for two of the documents (the guidance on local access restrictions and on mapping) to have any formal legal or evidential status. Even this would represent a change from the approach in the current Bill, which as yet contains no reference to guidance material.

Access land - rights and responsibilities

10. Both the Government's Framework for Action on Access and the NCAF discussion in February points to the need for clear factual guidance on rights and responsibilities under the new legislation. On reflection, and considering the range of material that will be available, we now think that there are considerable advantages in providing the same core factual guidance on rights and responsibilites to users and ccupiers. Annex 2 contains a first draft of a single guidance publication designed to inform anyone with an active interest in this subject about the main facts. 

11. As the list at Annex 1 indicates, we also envisage producing:

a. a short 'flyer' to give the general public simple headline facts about what has changed and encourage them to find out more; and 

b. additional guidance for occupiers on issues that that are particuarly relevant to them, eg on restriction regimes, funding for works, liability, trespass, obstruction, the position on existing access rights and agreements, and so on. These are in preparation. 

Next steps

12. Following the NCAF discussion, we will develop the whole 'family of products' further, consult the Agency Board, and undertake formal consultations with key national organisations. We have been, and will continue to work closely with other bodies that have a formal role to play under the legislation arrangements (the Countryside Council for Wales, National Park Authorities and the Forestry Commission). 

13. In parallel with this work, guidance material is being developed on the changes that the current Bill is making to rights of way law and practice

 


Annex 1


PROPOSED CORE 'FAMILY' OF COUNTRYSIDE AGENCY 
PUBLICATIONS ON ACCESS LEGISLATION

A. MAIN PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO ACCESS BILL

1. "Access land - what it is, where it is, how to find out more"

  • Short 'flyer', written for general public. (Single A4 sheet, folded). 
  • First introduction to subject for people with no background or knowledge. 
  • Short, simple and attractive so that people are willing to glance through and absorb main messages.  

2. Access land - enjoying it safely

  • Booklet (8 sides of A4), for interested members of the public. 
  • Attractive colour presentation. 
  • Example-led advice on risk avoidance on different types of access land.  

3. Access land - rights and responsibilities

  • Booklet (8 sides of A4) - for all those wanting more than '1' offers (users and managers) 
  • Factual summary of rights/responsibilities/starting principles.  

guidance

4. Maps of Access Land

  • Booklet (16 sides of A4), for everyone with an interest in the process and product of mapping. 
  • Explains the process and Agency criteria for 'official' mapping of access land. 
  • Explains the mapping, consultation and appeals system. 
  • Includes case studies and examples. 
  • Appends pointers to main information sources on countryside access.  

(Note that this would require an addition to the current Bill)


5. Access land - local access restrictions and how they work

  • Booklet (16 sides of A4), for occupiers and anyone else with an interest in this aspect. 
  • Explains the range of management/restriction/closure options, the legal position on each, notification and application procedures; the criteria the Agency will use to determine applications; appeal system etc. 
  • Containing case studies and examples. 
  • Effectively a summary of the processes and rules that the access authorities (Countryside Agency, CCW, National Park Authorities, Forestry Commission) will use to carry out their responsibilities for the determinations of closures/restrictions.  

(Note that this would require an change to the current Bill)

6. Access land - what land managers need to know

  • Booklet (16 sides of A4), giving occupiers core information about the new arrangements. 
  • Includes information on: who does what; legal liability; funds for access works; dealing with trespass; land management and obstruction; relationship with rights of way; educational and organised use of access land; other sources of advice and information etc  

7. Manging Access Land

  • Booklet (24 pages) providing advice to local authorities and land managers on tecniques for influencing visitor behavious and land use through use of design and information. 
  • Case studies of successful experience elsewhere

PUBLICATIONS WITH A WIDER FOCUS

8. Country Code

  • Updated to take account of new legislation. 
  • Short list of memorable phrases, aimed at a wide audience, including children  


9. The Access Charter

  • Laminated reference card for countryside users to carry in pocket/rucksack. 
  • Updated from 1980s original. 
  • Incorporates updated version of the Country Code. 
  • Covers all types of countryside access and recreation, on all land types. 
  • Stand-alone use plus incorporation as relevant in other publications, eg '8'.  


10. Out in the Country - where you can go and what you can do

  • Length/approach as now - for interested members of the public. 
  • Update of this popular Agency publication. 
  • Reflects access legislation, but (as before) ranges across all land types and forms of access including public rights of way/permissive paths.  

Proposed status

 



ANNEX 2 


ACCESS LAND - RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
(Draft - as at 04/04/00)

Introduction

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced new public rights of access over certain types of countryside ('access land'). This guide explains the rights and responsibilties of landowners, land managers, visitors and others with an interest in access land. [It is meant as a guide to everyuone's general rights and responsibilties, and should not be taken to be a definitive statement of the law] 

Public rights and responsibilties on 'access land'

People have a general legal right to enjoy open-air recreation on foot on 'access land' in England [and Wales]. These are usually areas of mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land. Certain other areas of land, that the owner has dedicated permanently for public access, are also included. 

The access right normally allows people to wander freely on access land, at any time, so long as they conform to the rules, summarised below. Some people may prefer to use visible paths or tracks for much of the time, and some access land will have markers like this [ ] indicating these. 

Access land is shown on maps produced by the Countryside Agency [,on 'Explorer maps produced by the Ordnance Survey, and on many other maps and guides]. 

You can find out more about access maps (and where to get them) from the booklet "Maps of Access Land" available from the Countryside Agency, most tourist information centres, or on our website at www.countryside.gov.uk.. See the back of this booklet for more details.

Public rights to enjoy access land are subject to general restrictions. These are set out on page xx of this booklet. These are designed to allow the normal management and use of the land for agriculture or other uses to continue alongside public access, and to protect the environmental and heritage qualities of some land. 

As well as these general restrictions, there may also be particular local access restrictions for local purposes. There is more about these on page xx.

Everyone using access land is bound by these general and local restrictions. Failure to abide by them will lead to the immediate loss of the right of access, and could in some instances lead to prosecution. It is particularly important that everyone usuing the right of access respects the needs of the land manager and other users. 

Dogs are subject to special contols on all access land - these are set out on page xx.

Landowners rights and responsibiltites

All access land is owned by someone, and most of it wil be actively used and managed for agriculture or subject other activitity like conservation management or shooting. Land owners and managers have the right to manage their land in any way they please, so long as they take care not to damage the environment in certain ways, or endanger the public.

Land owners and managers have the right to restrict acess to access land, or to close it completely to public access, for certain periods. They must always notify the Countryside Agency, National park Authority or the Forestry Commission of their intention to restrict access temporarily, so that arrangements can be made for the public to be notofied. When access is or is about to be restricted in some way, notices will be put up at the main entry points into the land[either by the CA/NPA/FC/LA, or in some cases by the owner or manager]. These will show which areas are restricted, what the restrictions are, how long they will last, and where the nearest available access land is. 

There is more information below on local restrictions.

Except during periods of temporary restriction, landowners or managers must allow the public freedom to walk where they wish on access land. They must not put up misleading notices, or otherwise discourage or dissuade public access. 

Local Access Restrictions

Local restrictions may mean people have limited access to access land, or none at all, on a particular day or at a particular times of year. The details vary from one place to the next. The box outlines the sort of restrictions that may arise. 

BOXED TEXT: Local access restrictions - at a glance
The owner of an area of access land may suspend or restrict access for up to 28 days each year - but not at weekends or on bank holidays, and not in such a way as to prevent people from reaching adjacent areas of access land. These temporary restrictions have to be notified in advance to the CA/National Park Authority/FC but do not need consent. (See the booklet "Access land - local access restrictions and how they work" for more details of the procedures) 

Any proposed restriction over and above the 28 day 'allowance' has to be specially authorised by the Countryside Agency/National Park Authority/ Forestry Commission on one of the following grounds:

  • land management need
  • exceptional fire risk
  • danger to the public
  • other emergency circumstances
  • to protect wildlife, ancient monuments etc, or
  • defence or national security.

    Permanent or long-term closures of access land will be rare, most circumstances being dealt with through a limitation of rights to paths and tracks, or other means.       

Access restrictions will be kept to a minimum necessary for the particular purpose. Where they do apply, they must be observed. People can check the position in advance of visiting an area of access land by calling the "Access Hotline" [details to be added], by looking for information at information centres, or by looking on the Countryside Agency's website at www.countryside.gov.uk/accessland 

Control of dogs

To avoid disturbing wildlife or distressing or injuring farm animals, dogs must always be kept under effective control on access land, or on rights of way. The law allows land managers to shoot dogs that are attacking or otherwise threatening livestock. The onus is on the owner of a dog to avoid any possibility of this happening by keeping it under proper control.

ON access land and rights of way pasing through it, dogs must be kept on a short lead:

  • between 1 March and 30 June, everywhere: and 
  • at any time of year, whenever there are livestock (cattle, sheep, horses, poultry or other such animals) nearby, that the dog could easily reach if left free..

These general rules may be varied by local notices, for instance to extend the period during which dogs must be on short leads, or in some cases to excluse access to dogs completely. 

Landowners and farmers must ensure their own dogs, which may be left to run free on their own land, do not attack or intimidate people who are using access land. 

Excepted Land

Certain types of land are classed as 'Excepted Land'. Access rights do not apply on Excepted Land even where it falls within a wider area of access land. The box summarises the types of land that are excepted.

BOXED TEXT: Excepted Land - at a glance
Cultivated land - land ploughed for the growing of crops within the past year.
Buildings and the land immediately around them (eg gardens or courtyards).
Land accomodating structures like electricity substations, wind turbines or telephone masts
(though this does not prevent use of access land around them).
Quarries and other mineral workings.
Railways and tramways.
Golf courses and race courses (except where access is otherwise specifically allowed) 
Aerodromes
Land being developed in one of the ways above.
Land under Military Byelaws  (eg Ministry of Defence training areas).

Where 'excepted land' is served by public rights of way (eg footpaths or bridleways) or other legal access rights or traditions, access by those means is still allowed. 

Excepted Activities

Most low-key, informal activities (eg walking, sightseeing, bird watching, picnicking, climbing, running) are allowed on access land. But access rights do not mean people can do anything they please on the land. For example, they do not entitle visitors to: 

  • ride a horse or bicycle; 
  • drive a vehicle (unless it is an invalid carriage);
  • camp, hang glide or paraglide; 
  • take part in organised events or activities such as team games, sponsored walks etc, or in commercially-run activities on the land; 
  • swim in or use boats on rivers, lakes etc on access land; 
  • take anything away with them, (eg stones, fallen wood or plants).  

These and other Excepted Activities are listed fully at Annex 1. 

Behaving responsibly

Whatever their interest in access land, people are expected to behave responsibly and with consideration for others. For example: 

Visitors must:

  • never light or cause a fire; 

  • be careful not to damage gates, hedges, fences or walls, crops - or anything else on the land; 

  • shut gates behind them, unless they find them propped or fastened open; 

  • take litter home with them; 

  • avoid disrupting others' work on the land or spoiling their enjoyment; 

  • minimise disturbance to livestock, wildlife and habitats; 

  • respect other people's privacy, eg in or around buildings on access land. 

  • Landowners and farmersare free to manage access land as they wish, but must not unreasonably interfere with people's use of it - for example by: 

  • blocking off entrances; 

  • putting up misleading notices; or 

  • unnecessarily impeding people's use or enjoyment of the land.  

Offences and enforcement

A visitor who infringes any of the rules or restrictions on access land can be asked to leave, and to keep off the land for the rest of the day in question. In serious or repeated cases, they may face a court injunction or even prosecution. The main offences that apply on access land are summarised at Annex 2. 

Rangers or wardens help to manage access to some areas of access land. They are there to advise and help visitors and to enforce the access law summarised here. 

Safety and liability 

The owner or occupier of access land must not put visitors at risk by behaving dangerously there - but does not have to make the land itself safe for them to use. Using some access land is inherently dangerous and people are responsible for taking proper care of themselves and any children or dogs in their charge. 

If a visitor is injured through some feature of the landscape (eg a steep drop or deep water), or through natural factors such as the weather, they will not be able to sue anyone sucessfully for damages. 

More information about staying safe on access land is available in the separate leaflet "Access land - enjoying it safely". 

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to enter access land at a particular place? 
There will sometimes be 'Access Information Points' where notices about special restrictions will be displayed, together with maps of the access land. You are not legally required to use this point of entry, but if you enter the land somewhere else you must not damage walls, fences, hedges etc on your way in or out. 

Do the access rights include riding a horse or bicycle? 
No - unless either the owner of the land has made a special dedication or other provision extending the access rights to include either or both of these, or there are rights of way for cyclists or horse riders along particular routes (see below). 

Is climbing allowed?
Yes, subject to any local access restrictions - eg for nature conservation reasons. People climb on access land at their own risk, and in doing so they must not damage the land or anything on it. [The British Mountaineering Council has a code of conduct for climbers which......etc]

How do these rights relate to rights of way? 
Public rights of way (eg footpaths or bridleways) are rights to pass along a particular route through the countryside. Where they pass over access land, they are normally unaffected by any local access restrictions etc on the land as a whole - but as elsewhere, visitors should use them with consideration for others. 

Where can I find out more?
See the list of related publications at the back of this leaflet.



Annex 1

[Here will be Schedule 2 of the Act in its final form - the full list of Excepted Activities for access land.]



Annex 2

Simplified summary of relevant criminal offences

It is an offence for anyone visiting access land to:

  • Drive a motor vehicle without lawful authority
    (Road Traffic Act 1988 section 34) 
  • Intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage anyone else's property, including plants, shrubs, trees, hedges, fences, walls etc
    (Criminal Damage Act 1971 section 1) 
  • Commit arson (ie intentionally or recklessly destroy or damage anyone else's property by means of fire)
    (Criminal Damage Act 1971 section 1) 

  • Intentionally disrupt or obstruct a lawful activity, or intimidate or threaten others 
    (Public Order Act 1986 section 4; Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 section 68) 

  • Carry a firearm or poach for game etc
    (Firearms Act 1968; Night Poaching Act 1828; Game Act 1831) 

  • Take someone else's property - though this excludes wild berries, mushrooms etc picked for personal consumption
    (Theft Act 1968) 

  • Have with them a dog that is dangerously out of control or is:
    • running free in a field of sheep;
    • attacking livestock; or 
    • chasing livestock in a way that could cause them injury or suffering 

    (Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 section 3; Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 section 1) 

  • Leave litter, rubbish etc on the land
    (Environmental Protection Act 1990 section 87) 
  • Use a metal detector without consent at a scheduled monument or designated area of archaeological importance
    (Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 section 42)  

A range of criminal offences also protect various wild animals, birds, plants etc from intentional disturbance, injury or damage. You can get full details of these offences in the leaflet....... [EN to advise]

On some access land there may also be local byelaws in force: it is also an offence to breach these. Visitors should watch out for details on local notices. 

Annex 3

[Here will be the list of related publications]