Memorandum submitted by The Ramblers'
Association (A24)
INTRODUCTION
1. The Ramblers' Association (RA) welcomes
the opportunity to contribute to this inquiry examining the future
of farming in the UK. We would particularly like to comment on
the relationship between recreational use of the countryside with
the food and farming sectors in terms of:
(a) the way improved stewardship of agricultural
land can be promoted; and
(b) opportunities for agriculture by shifting
emphasis away from production subsidies.
We believe that improvements to agri-environment
schemes are necessary in order to provide the opportunities that
will benefit agriculture, the rural economy and the public.
2. The RA is a voluntary organisation founded
in 1935 whose aims are to promote walking, to protect public rights
of way, to campaign for access to open country and to defend the
beauty of the countryside. We have over 208,000 supporters consisting
of more than 131,000 individual members and 77,000 members of
affiliated clubs and societies.
The character of the countryside that our founder
members enjoyed walking in at the time of the RA's formation in
1935 has immeasurably changed. This change has been brought about
through the post-war agricultural policies that drove production
targets upwards towards the aim of self-sufficiency in food production
for the UK, through the intensively farmed and often degraded
rural landscapes brought about by the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP), to where we stand today facing the challenges brought about
by the Foot and Mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. Our members are
inherently connected to the countryside, and the farming practices
that shape it, as the countryside provides the core reason for
our members' walking activities. Consequently the RA has an interest
in the ways that future agricultural policy mechanisms will affect
the landscapes that the public enjoy when walking.
3. The visual qualities of the British countryside
have never been static and the varied demands placed upon it have
been a prime reason for changes in the appearance of the landscape.
Today's situation is unique in that never before have the pressures
of so many varied demands and expectations of the countryside
been so transparently demonstrated and recognised. We have been
forced to acknowledge that the countryside is expected to be a
food factory, a living space, a business park, a playground and
nature reserve. Within each of these expectations lie conflicting
pressures: food produced in sufficient quantity but at high quality;
somewhere to live that has an individual character but provides
the multitude of services a community expects to have access to,
whether in an urban or rural context and a place where those running
local shops, pubs and B&Bs can make a living. It is also expected
to be a place to recharge spirits in solitude and tranquillity,
a place that provides ecological niches for every type of fauna
and flora to flourish in, a source of minerals, and military training
ground. And so the list goes on.
4. The public have a subjective perception
of how the countryside looks and how they would like it to look
in a variety of idealised scenarios. It is sometimes difficult
to reconcile the realities of a living, working countryside with
the one that people would most like to visit. However, agri-environment
schemes provide the opportunity to link together the realities
of farming practices and the demands of the food industry with
the needs of the public as consumers of food and as users of recreational
landscapes. Even those who are physically remote from the countryside
have a sense of expectation that the taxes should contribute towards
creating beneficial countryside management policies and practices
rather than negative ones that reduce biodiversity and landscape
quality.
5. The value of the experience that visitors
to the countryside have continues to be rewarding enough, despite
the increasing pressures the countryside faces today. Visitor
numbers have steadily increased over time. The Countryside Agency's
"Foot and Mouth Disease: the State of the English Countryside"
report (2001), stated that:
"In 1998 over one-fifth of visitors to the
countryside pursued activities such as hiking, rambling, field
study and cycling that are now affected. These activities accounted
for some 26 million tourist trips and spending of £2.7 billion."
6. It is evident from these figures that
the countryside's "customers" have changed. Agri-environment
schemes support this change by improving the quality of the experience
of visiting the countryside and by making it a more diverse and
vibrant place. The appreciation of these qualities by visitors
needs to be capitalised upon by funding the policy mechanisms
that foster them thus realising the public's expectations in a
positive way.
RIGHTS OF
WAY
7. Rights of way are a key element to walking
in the countryside, and walking is Britain's most popular outdoor
pastime. An ICM survey in 2000 showed that 77 per cent of the
population walk for pleasure at least once a month. The public
want and expect rights of way to meet legal requirements. Yet
highway authorities—which receive funding from government
for their statutory duty work on rights of way—are failing
in these duties. The law requires rights of way to be open, free
from obstruction, and signposted where they leave a metalled road.
However, Audit Commission figures show that nearly all highway
authorities are failing in these duties. The most recent performance
indicators published by the Audit Commission cover the 1999-2000
year. These indicators show that only 75 per cent of rights of
way in England were easy to use; and only 66 per cent in England
were legally signposted. The Rights of Way Condition Survey 2000
by the Countryside Agency shows that walkers can expect a serious
problem around every 1.25 miles (2 km).
8. Rights of way are an integral part of
the countryside. Their closure during FMD was fundamental to the
failure of many businesses in rural areas during the FMD period
because the public understood that the countryside was closed
on account of rights of way being closed. This is a clear indication
that citizens and taxpayers expect the countryside to offer an
open and well maintained footpath network, and indeed rely upon
it to deliver an "open countryside".
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
AGRICULTURE, THE
RURAL ECONOMY
AND THE
PUBLIC THROUGH
IMPROVED ACCESS
AGREEMENTS
9. We consider it unacceptable that landowners
who break the law by ploughing and cropping rights of way are
currently eligible for payment for this within the terms of the
IACS Arable Area Payment Scheme. We would like the government
to amend the scheme to ensure that landowners are not being subsidised
to break the law, and to make it a condition of any payment that
all rights of way are free from obstruction. We also have concerns
about the purchasing of public access under the provisions of
the Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Our research shows that most
of the access sites were previously open to the public to a greater
or lesser degree and/or had access problems which were off-putting
to visitors. We believe that this scheme has many benefits and
provides excellent opportunities for better land management. However,
it does not represent good value for money in terms of the benefits
that it should provide the public through access provision, and
consequently fails to support the economy in rural areas beyond
its agricultural remit (such as by supporting tourism through
providing a landscape that people can and want to visit). We strongly
recommend that the millions of pounds spent on this scheme should
be used far more strategically to deliver more far reaching local
benefits, including supporting an open and well-maintained rights
of way network and implementing Part 1 of the Countryside and
Rights of Way Act 2000 which will bring many new opportunities
for greater public access.
10. The Ramblers' Association welcomes the
Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) scheme of management agreements
and payments to farmers for the conservation and maintenance of
the countryside. However, we would like to see this scheme reformed
so that grants were made conditional upon the landowner's observance
of their statutory duties in respect of rights of way. We believe
there is a case for combining ESAs, Countryside Stewardship and
the Farm Woodland Premium scheme into a single framework.
11. We feel there should be recognition
and reward to the dedication of some smaller farmers operating
at minimal levels of profit to preserving small fields and field
margin features which are highly valued by visitors to the countryside.
The farming industry can be strengthened through maintaining a
diverse structure of farm size and types. Industrial scale farming
using intensive farming practices can lead to a reduction in landscape
features that provide wildlife habitats. The RA shares the concerns
of other countryside organisations regarding the loss of landscape
features such as hedgerows and dry stone walls and the effects
of overgrazing on hillsides We welcome the progress that has been
made in addressing these problems but feel there is still much
more to be achieved. Farmers need to be rewarded for good practice
rather than productivity.
12. There are some welcome developments
in the farming and food sectors. These positive aspects need to
be better supported to achieve their full potential. For example
the speciality and local foods sector. Production of these foods
are based on quality not the cheapest price. It also provides
a link between farmers and consumers and the landscape, thus providing
an incentive to protect it.
13. Another example of this is organic farming.
Following a ground shift in public awareness of organic produce
the food retailers have realised there is a need to meet consumer
demand. Retailers should recognise they have a major role to play
in supporting conversion to organic systems with significant environmental
benefits beyond non-use of pesticides and artificial fertilisers.
It has been an awareness of the impacts of intensive farming practices
by pioneer organic farmers that resulted in organic farms having
a more positive impact on the environment. Future demand for organic
produce should be met by supporting organic practices that continue
to foster practices that increase farm biodiversity. Furthermore,
such practices need to be developed to provide further benefits
such as increased access and landscape enhancement.
CONCLUSION
14. In the short term the RA hopes that
the outcome of the current examinations of the food and farming
industries will result in a major shift in farming and food production
policy, along with a recognition of the contribution that walking
and tourism now make to the rural economy. A change in current
policy on food production methods inevitably requires a re-think
on funding streams and how to increase funding and apply it in
a more targeted way to ensure that agri-environment packages deliver
a wide range of benefits to all the stakeholders of the rural
economy.
15. The Ramblers' Association supports increased
funding for the England Rural Development Programme through an
increased share of EU funds for the UK at the mid-term review
and further commitment to modulation between 2003 and 2006.
16. The problems that face the farming and
food industry have been recognised for some time and derive mainly
from a continuing narrow focus on over-production supported by
subsidies mainly as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy.
The RA hopes that in the medium to long term CAP reforms will
further raise the ability of agri-environment schemes to deliver
tangible multi-sector benefits throughout the countryside. We
recognise that this will take time but believe it is essential
in cushioning the economy in rural areas against any future crisis
brought about by the current focus on support for unsustainable
farming practice. We would like to see the Government push for
increased degressivity in forthcoming rounds of CAP reform discussions.
17. The Foot and Mouth outbreak clearly
demonstrated the role walking plays in the economy. Walking has
an important contribution to make to a diverse range of businesses
across all sectors of the rural economy. We recognise that those
who live and work in rural areas are of primary importance but
we also believe that those who visit the countryside share a significant
appreciation of the qualities of the countryside, and that both
communities and visitors alike wish to see these qualities protected.
The RA believes that future funding requirements for farming subsidies
and economic support mechanisms to rural areas need to consider
all the facets of the economy in rural areas, strengthening it
and preventing over-reliance on one particular sector. The creation
of cohesive, cross compliant agri-environment schemes and an integrated
approach to planning policies, (ensuring they do not simply allow
a proliferation of development that damages the character of the
countryside), will reinforce the qualities that people seek as
inhabitants and visitors alike.
18. We recommend that Government agricultural
policy ensures the creation of a highly diverse food and farming
sector by increasing funding to and making the environmental focus
of the current schemes broader so that landscape, biodiversity
and amenity objectives are equal. This will enable these schemes
to deliver to society the health benefits provided by outdoor
recreation and aid the development of a greater understanding
and appreciation of the countryside by making it more accessible
and beautiful for all to enjoy.
The Ramblers' Association
11 December 2001
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