Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Fifth Report

FIFTH REPORT

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has agreed to the following

Report:

COUNTRYSIDE AND RIGHTS OF WAY ACT 2000

Summary

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which includes provisions to introduce the regime of more open-access to the countryside—the 'right to roam'—is viewed as landmark legislation by interest groups and those concerned with the wider rural economy. The legislation is complex and there is a need to continue to maintain a balance between the needs of those who work on the land and those who seek access to the land for recreation purposes.

Our main concerns relate to delays to the mapping process; the arrangements for restricting access; and the resources available to implement the Act. We urge the Department to clarify its proposals for how restrictions to open-access land should be managed. We also ask the Department to provide details of the resources which will be made available to land managers and others for putting in place the necessary infrastructure, such as signs and sources of information about open-access areas.

We are concerned that the additional money allocated to local authorities to implement the Act may not be used for the purpose for which it was intended. We urge that measures are put in place to hold local authorities to account in relation to their new responsibilities under the Act. Clarification of the likely costs of implementing the Act and confirmation of the funding available to support it would go some way to alleviating the concerns of many of those with an interest in the Act's successful implementation. We remain concerned that without this an important opportunity will be missed and the credibility of the legislation may be undermined.

Introduction

1. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 ('the Act') received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000. It includes, among other measures, provisions for a new statutory right of access to the countryside. The Act will be implemented in stages. In our Report on Defra's Departmental Report 2002 we recommended that "Defra set as one of its new Public Service Agreement targets a deadline by which the process of implementing [the Act] will be completed".[1] The Government agreed with this recommendation; Defra's Public Service Agreement for 2003-06 includes a target of opening up access to all registered common land, mountain, moor, heath and down by the end of 2005.[2]

2. We are committed to examining Defra's progress in implementing legislation. The Government has stated that the process of implementing the Act is a complex one and the Countryside Agency has identified the implementation of the new right of access as a high risk project.[3] In January 2003, we therefore decided to appoint a Sub-committee to examine the progress made by the Department in implementing the Act.[4] The terms of reference of our inquiry were simply "to consider progress made in the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000."

Conduct of our Inquiry

3. We decided to carry out a short inquiry to highlight some of the issues that have arisen to date, and to make relevant recommendations at a time when Defra continues to develop its work on implementation of the Act. We held one oral evidence session during which we took evidence from the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Deputy Director of the Countryside Agency as well as from the Ramblers' Association and the Country Land and Business Association. In addition we received written memoranda from 11 different organisations. We are most grateful to all those who have helped us with our inquiry.

4. The evidence submitted to the inquiry focussed almost entirely on the parts of the Act which cover open-access and the rights of way network; we did not examine the implementation of the provisions on Sites of Special Scientific Interest or Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Background

5. The Act:

• creates a new right of access to open country and registered common land;
• introduces measures designed to reform and improve rights of way;
• gives greater protection to sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs), and strengthens wildlife protection;
• provides new powers to set up Conservation Boards for the better management of areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs), and requires certain bodies to have regard for AONBs when doing anything which would affect the land in those areas;
• lists habitats and species of principal importance for the conservation of biological diversity in England; and
• provides new powers to regulate access to premises by motor vehicles across areas such as common land and village greens.

The Act applies to England and Wales though different bodies are responsible for its implementation in each country: the Countryside Agency in England and the Countryside Council for Wales in Wales. The following summarises the Act's main provisions relating to open-access land and rights of way in the context of their application in England.

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1   Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Sixth Report of Session 2001-02, The Departmental Annual Report 2002, HC 969, para 30 Back

2   Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Ninth Special Report of Session 2001-02, The Departmental Annual Report 2002: the Government's Reply to the Committee's Sixth Report of Session 2001-02, HC 1223, p. 10 Back

3   Note of Matters Arising from the 32^nd Meeting of the Countryside Agency, 12 December 2002 Back

4   Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee press notice 14 2002-03, 24 January 2003 Back

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Prepared 18 March 2003