Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Written Evidence


Memorandum submitted by the Ramblers' Association (Appendix 8)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  1.  The Ramblers' Association welcomes the draft Bill, especially provisions to create a powerful, independent Integrated Agency. We believe that the Bill's provisions are in line with the institutional arrangements proposed in the Rural Strategy and feel that in many ways the provisions will allow the Government to implement its proposals effectively. However, concerns remain that access will lose out to nature conservation and biodiversity. We feel strongly that it must be clear throughout the Bill that access and recreation are on an equal footing with the conservation work of the Agency, with conflicts resolved on a case-by-case basis. We believe that the value of countryside access must be appreciated at all levels and across all functions of the Integrated Agency.

GENERAL

  2.  The Ramblers' Association (RA) is the UK's largest organisation protecting the rights and promoting the interests of walkers. It aims to promote walking, to promote the integrity of the footpath network, to secure greater access on foot to the countryside and to protect the outdoor environment. The RA has 143,000 members organised into 450 local groups throughout England, Scotland and Wales. In addition over 900 "private" walking clubs are affiliated to the RA.

  3.  In responding to the draft Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill, the RA will concentrate on issues directly related to its work, especially the creation of a new Integrated Agency. This response is in addition to that submitted by Wildlife and Countryside Link, which we fully support.

RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS POSED

  Whether the provisions of the draft Bill differ significantly from the institutional arrangements proposed in the Government's Rural Strategy

  4.  It appears to the RA that the draft Bill's provisions are largely in line with the institutional arrangements proposed in the Rural Strategy 2004.

  5.  The RA welcomes the establishment of the Integrated Agency as a "very powerful and independent organisation". We agree with Government that great value can be derived from the pooling of the existing talents, skills and experience across English Nature, the Countryside Agency and Rural Development Service.

  Whether the provisions of the draft Bill, if enacted, would in your opinion allow the Government to implement its proposals in an effective way

  6.  The RA's view is that public access to the countryside stands at the centre of a rural revival and has cross-cutting benefits for many other areas of life. Access is about tourism, the rural economy, good health, recreational opportunities, greater understanding between town and country, and the fostering of a love and understanding of the natural world. Access is fundamental to the social and economic health of rural areas, as was clearly illustrated during the foot and mouth crisis.

  7.  For these reasons, in our response to the Committee's inquiry into the Government's Rural Strategy we called for the new Integrated Agency to be a policy and delivery champion for access. While recognising that much to do with practical access delivery remains with local and national park authorities, the Integrated Agency must be in a position to monitor, incentivise, experiment and pressurise the delivery of access and to develop policies to further it.

  8.  While the purpose of the new agency (clause 2) includes "securing the provision and improvement of facilities for the study, understanding and enjoyment of nature" it is not clear from the draft Bill or supporting documents that the Integrated Agency will have the necessary powers to deliver this purpose. Particularly in the area of "pressurising the delivery of access" we believe that the Agency needs significantly greater powers to impose sanctions on those authorities that fail in this area, as well as providing incentives for those wishing to improve.

  9.  We welcome clauses 3 and 4, and believe the Agency's powers in clause 4 should be extended to include survey and monitoring work.

  10.  Notwithstanding the points made above, it appears to the RA that the Integrated Agency's "general implementation powers", outlined in clauses 5-8, will provide the Agency with a range of powers to deliver its purpose effectively. We welcome the provisions which will allow the Agency to make grants and enter into working arrangements with other organisations, including those in the voluntary and charity sectors.

  11.  The "other functions" outlined in clauses 9-13, especially the power to bring criminal proceedings, are welcomed. In the area of public access the Integrated Agency should make its intentions clear by readying itself to bring criminal proceedings where necessary to tackle long-standing problems, clarify points of law, or illustrate best practice.

  12.  Equally, we believe that powers outlined in clauses 41-45 will enable more effective delivery and the pooling of relevant knowledge and resources. We welcome these powers on the understanding that the necessary funding will be provided to the agent body to carry out its functions and that there will be clear reporting structures in place to ensure that public accountability remains.

  13.  It is essential that the importance of access to the countryside and open spaces is recognised at all levels and by all quarters in the Integrated Agency. All staff within the Agency and partner organisations must have a true appreciation of the key role played by recreation and access in the Agency's work. This must be the case if the Rural Strategy's aim of "moving away from a "silo" based approach to a more flexible integrated, sustainable approach to the management of the natural environment" is to be met.

  14.  The Rural Strategy stated that the Integrated Agency would address public access to, and the sustainable management of, our natural heritage as mutually reinforcing aims. Our concern remains that in the Integrated Agency access and recreation interests will be crowded out by the sheer weight of nature conservation and biodiversity work undertaken. We would argue strongly against any policy of conservation automatically taking precedence over access, akin to the "Sandford principle". The RA believes that access and recreation should have equal weighting to conservation in the new agency, with conflicts resolved on a case-by-case basis. Appreciation and respect for the natural environment can only be achieved by allowing access to it. When people come to enjoy and appreciate nature it becomes their desire to conserve and enhance it, thereby producing a virtuous circle.

  15.  The RA would be very happy to expand on the issues raised in this document. The contact point within the RA on this matter is Adrian Morris, Head of Footpath Campaigns (adrianm@london.ramblers.org.uk or 020 7339 8524). Postal address is The Ramblers' Association, 2nd Floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London, SE1 7TW.

The Ramblers' Association

February 2005





 
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