Appendix
The Select Committee on Environment, Food
and Rural Affairs took evidence on the Countryside and Rights
of Way Act 2000 ('the Act') as part of its on-going oversight
of the implementation of legislation by the Department for Environment,
Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its Agencies. The Select Committee
Report was published on 18 March 2003. This is the Government
and Countryside Agency response.
The Government and the Agency both welcome
the measured and thoughtful views expressed in the Committee's
report on the implementation of the Act. We are particularly pleased
that the Committee strongly supports the objectives of the Act
and recognises our efforts to balance the sometimes competing
demands of different interest groups.
The Committee identifies a number of key
issues on the implementation of the legislation and on maximizing
the benefits of the Act. As these issues directly concern both
the Government and the Agency, this response is in the form of
a joint memorandum from us.
Delays to the mapping process
Recommendation of the Select Committee
2. We note the Government's acknowledgement
that it underestimated the size of the mapping project. We welcome
the commitment to improve practice in mapping the other regions,
and the new procedures adopted by the Countryside Agency. We trust
that these will prove an adequate response to the earlier problems,
and that the original target for completion of the exercise will
be met (paragraph 22).
Government and Agency response
The Government and the Agency remain
committed to meeting both the Public Service Agreement target
date for introducing the new right of access throughout England,
and the initial target dates for regional commencement in northern
and southern England. It is clear that the scale, and therefore
the cost, of the remainder of the mapping project will depend
on the volume of comments (on the draft maps) and appeals (against
the inclusion of land on the provisional maps). The Agency has
developed a predictive model to help it plan and manage this work,
and it will review the assumptions in this model regularly, in
the light of experience in successive mapping areas. The Government
and the Agency will work closely together to ensure that the necessary
funding is made available to allow the completion of the mapping
project to timetable.
Restrictions
Recommendation of the Select Committee
3. We urge the Department to finalise
its proposals relating to restrictions as soon as possible. We
also recommend that the Countryside Agency monitor carefully the
success of these arrangements in the first two regions and make
adjustments based on this experience before the new rights are
introduced in the rest of the country (paragraph 23).
Government and Agency response
The Government intends to lay regulations
before the House very soon. We consulted widely on the proposals
for draft regulations and are grateful for the many helpful comments
and suggestions we received. These regulations are complex as
they cover both land managers' statutory right to close or restrict
access to their land for up to 28 days for any reason and their
right to apply to a relevant authority for a direction to close
land for reasons of land management, fire prevention and public
safety, including appeals against the relevant authorities' decisions.
The Government and the Agency agree that
it will be important to monitor the success of these arrangements
in the early regions and apply lessons learned to subsequent regions.
This was a major consideration in our decision to commence the
new right of access on a region by region basis as the Conclusive
Map for each area is finalized and all necessary restrictions
are in place. We want to ensure that any teething problems with
the restrictions system or any other aspect of the new right will
be identified and resolved quickly: This is new territory for
all the organisations involved and we want to ensure that we plan
the roll out of the new right properly. Regional commencement
offers the twin benefits of making access land available earlier
than promised and allowing us to trial our systems in the first
two areas, so that if problems emerge they can be dealt with and
the processes fine-tuned as necessary.
