Natural England

Celebrations as first regions mark historic new right of open access - 8 September 2004

Hundreds of people will set off across the Peak District moors to celebrate the beginning of a historic new right of access to open country on National Walking Day.

Pam Warhurst, deputy chair of the Countryside Agency and chair of the National Countryside Access Forum will join ramblers, open access campaigners and representatives of a range of countryside organisations to walk freely across some of the first new areas of open access land in England. 

This landmark event at Derbyshire Bridge, in the park’s Goyt Valley, marks the beginning of a new right of access across areas of open country, mountain, moor, heath, down, and registered common land, known as ‘access land’, as enshrined in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CroW) passed by Parliament in 2000.

Pam Warhurst said: "It's great that this new right makes the countryside more accessible for everyone and gives the public more freedom and choice of where they can go.  We want to encourage everyone to get out and enjoy our countryside and give them confidences in their new rights and responsibilities and respect for those who depende on it.  

"By the end of this process we will have mapped an estimated 3,200 square miles of new access land.  We could never have done it along and it was only achieved by working closely with land managers and the public.  We will continue this work to ensure all regions in England are ready for the new rights to begin by the end of next year."

Alun Michael, Rural Affairs minister said:“This will be a very special day for everyone who loves our countryside. For the first time, people will be able to enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery that was once off-limits.

“It is historic because it introduces a major new right for which people have campaigned for well over a century and fulfils a Government promise to give people greater freedom to explore our open countryside. 

“I will start the day with a walk in the Forest of Bowland and then hot foot it over to visit the Peak District. Both are very special places for campaigners so it’s fitting we should celebrate there, on the day when the right enshrined in the CRoW Act actually becomes a reality.”

“While celebrating, it is also important to recognise that the CRoW Act strikes a careful balance between access to open land, for walkers and the needs of land managers. 

“So we should all take advantage of this new opportunity and get out and enjoy what our wonderful countryside has to offer.”

Nick Barrett, Chief Executive of the Ramblers’ Association, said:   “September 19 is a truly historic day; the landscapes being opened to the nation under the CRoW Act are as much a part of our national heritage as structures like Stonehenge.   For many the joy of walking is about getting off the beaten track; we all now have a right to do just that and I hope people will take the opportunity to discover these beautiful areas for themselves.

“That future generations will have this unprecedented access to open country is testament to the extraordinary dedication of many thousands of ordinary people, some of whom have campaigned for it all their lives.   They would be the first to recognise that with rights come responsibilities.   I am confident that walkers' respect and love of the countryside will prove that this is a wise, fair and beneficial piece of legislation.”

Tony Hams, OBE, chair of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: "The Peak District has a long association with the access campaign - from the 1930s trespasses, through pioneering access agreements with landowners in the 1950s, right up to the present day with the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. 

“We are delighted and honoured to be the first National Park to benefit from the new access to open country.   We are working in partnership with many individuals and organisations on education, moorland restoration and fire management and supporting public transport services to provide access for all. Not least we are working with land-managers and farmers to ensure everything runs smoothly on the ground to ensure that people can access all the areas that are open and that conservation and land management interests are safeguarded."

The mapping programme, carried out by the Countryside Agency, has divided England into eight mapping areas.

The Peak District is part of the second mapping area, the lower north west region which has now had all of its eligible open access land included on Ordnance Survey Explorer Maps – this land will be shown as ‘access land.’ 

Open access land in the first mapping area, the south east, is also officially opened today.

Over the next eighteen months, the new rights will begin in the remaining regions in England on a rolling programme, a process set to be completed by the end of 2005.  

Some owners of other land, for example the Forestry Commission, are voluntarily making their land available in the same way using new powers in the CroW Act, even though it might not qualify as ‘open country’. 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.   For how and where to access open countryside go to www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk 

2. Part I of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for the creation of a new statutory right of access on foot to 'access land' - usually open country and registered common land - in England and Wales.

3. Further information about the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 
is available in the form of a fact sheet.

4. The South East area (area 1) covers East Sussex, Kent, Surrey, West Sussex and the London Boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames and Sutton. 

5. The lower North West area (area 2) covers Lancashire (excluding a small area north of the A65), a small part of Cumbria south of the A65, part of North Yorkshire (including Craven), part of West Yorkshire (including Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees), Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire, parts of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire in the Peak District National Park, as well as parts of north west Derbyshire that border the National Park. 

6. Central southern England (area 3) covers South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and North east Somerset (exclusing west Somerset and Taunton Deane), Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorest, Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

Information on the boundaries of the eight mapping areas can be found on the Countryside Agency’s website: http//www.camapping.co.uk/mapping/default.htm

7. Regional celebrations of the new right are being held at Black Clough in the Forest of Bowland on September 19 and at Ditchling Beacon in East Sussex on September 20.

·         The new right includes most open-air recreational activities carried out on foot, including walking, sightseeing, bird-watching, climbing and running.  

·         The new right enables ‘open access’, which means that people will be able to wander freely across ‘access land’ and won’t have to stick to paths.  

What does the new right NOT include?

·         The new right does not include riding a horse or bicycle, or driving a vehicle, or certain other activities such as camping – but where these activities already take place (e.g. an existing bridleway), they are unaffected. 

·         The new right is subject to special rules about the control of dogs.

·         Access may sometimes be restricted for reasons such as land or livestock management or nature conservation.  

·         There are a few places where the public cannot go, even if they are within mapped areas of access land – these ‘excepted’ areas include golf courses, buildings, gardens, quarries and arable land.

How much land will be new access land? 

It’s estimated that 1,000,000 hectares (8% of land in England, 4,000 square miles) of the total land area of England (12,042,428 hectares/50,356 square miles) will be mapped, of which about 830,000 hectares/3,200 square miles is ‘new’ access land, to which there are no existing statutory rights of access. Some other landowners are using new powers in the CRoW Act to make their land available in the same way in perpetuity.   The Forestry Commission, for example, will be dedicating over 180,000 hectares /700 square miles as access land.  

How is this land being mapped in England?

Ÿ         Under the  Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) the Countryside Agency must map all areas of open country (land which appears to them to consist wholly or predominantly of mountain, moor, heath and down) and registered common land.

Ÿ         The Agency produces maps area by area (see map attached).   The process involves three stages: draft maps with a three-month public consultation period; provisional maps, which take account of comments on the draft map (people with a legal interest in the mapped land have the right to appeal against the showing of their land on the provisional maps through the Planning Inspectorate); and conclusive maps, the final version.

Below, key partners describe what the new right means to them

English Nature                                                                           

Sir Martin Doughty, chair:                                                                     

“The CRoW Act provides an outstanding opportunity for walkers to explore England’s fantastic wildlife habitats. For example, the Goyt Valley supports superb moorland habitats including crowberry-rich blanket bog which is characteristic of this part of the Pennines. It is also important for breeding upland birds such as short-eared owl and ring ouzel. Experience on National Nature Reserves has shown that, with appropriate management on the ground, people can explore special areas without compromising nature conservation.   We are working to ensure that land owners are given the support they need to enable public access and England’s wildlife to flourish alongside each other.” 

Martin Fitton, chief executive:

  "As a family of National Parks, we celebrate the fact that in our heavily populated island, we are creating new opportunities for all to enjoy, discover and explore our most tranquil open spaces.  For many years the public has enjoyed access to large areas of mountains, moor and heath in our National Parks.  The public's new access rights to open countryside will provide more areas to explore in these outstanding landscapes and it is with real excitement that we welcome the start of these new rights.”    

Vanessa Lawrence, director general:

"Ordnance Survey is delighted to be supporting the implementation of the new access opportunities in a very practical way, by carrying out major revisions to every OS Explorer Map in England and Wales. These 1:25,000 scale maps have been chosen for this task because their detail makes them absolutely ideal for outdoor activities.   On the revised maps, we are bringing together both new access land and existing access areas in a clear and unified way. The result is that both ramblers and landowners using the maps will be clear about the areas being opened up, and misunderstandings and confusion can be avoided."

Councillor Alan Melton, chairman of the association’s Rural Commission:

"The Countryside and Rights of Way Act enables more people to benefit from access to the countryside.   The LGA has consistently supported open access and local authorities are already playing a major part in making it happen.   Nearly all the land in mapping areas 1-5 is covered in plans devised by access authorities - who have responded positively to the Government's call for action. Local government is well placed to secure the social, economic and environmental benefits of greater access and is looking to central government to increase and sustain its funding for the national grant aid scheme.”

The National Trust

Jo Burgon, head of   access and recreation:

"This is an historic moment in the long 'journey' to provide this type of access to our environmentally rich landscapes.   The public's strong attachment to the countryside is demonstrated with 80% of them viewing a visit to the country as a tonic to the stresses of our everyday lives. With a new Countryside Code and important measures to ensure land management and access interests can co-exist together the Trust welcomes this watershed in our rights to enjoy the countryside." 

The National Farmer’s Union

Tim Bennett, NFU president

“We welcome visitors to come and enjoy the countryside and at the same time see for themselves what a fantastic job farmers and growers are doing in managing 75% of all UK land and producing two-thirds of all food eaten in Britain. All we ask for is responsible access, where visitors follow signs, keep their dogs under control and take their litter home with them. It must also be remembered that as well as being a beautiful place to visit, the countryside is a workplace, home to farm animals and haven for wildlife. Please help us look after it.”

Country Land & Business Association

Mark Hudson, president 

"The new challenge is to all to ensure that those enjoying their access rights are responsible too.   We urge people to remember that this is not a general right to roam: it is access to mapped areas of land which may be temporarily closed for safety and land management reasons. Visitors can help care for the countryside by respecting the Countryside Code and by supporting local shops and businesses. But the most important thing that people can do is to check the access website, check the new maps and  check the local information points to see where they can go."

The Moorland Association 

Simon Bostock, chairman,

"We welcome the opportunities that Open Access provides for everyone to enjoy moorlands for quiet recreation. Britain has 75 per cent of the world's remaining heather moorlands, and we hope that all visitors will respect the fact that they are important living and working landscapes, primarily managed for grazing farm animals, shooting and nature conservation. The new Moorland Code, developed by the Moorland Access Advisory Group, follows the key messages of the countryside code and gives information about how the land is managed, the fantastic wildlife that is our upland heritage and how to enjoy it in a responsible way. The guide is a must for anyone wanting to get away from it all and fully appreciate the experience."