Memorandum submitted by the British Horse
Society (DMB 19)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The British Horse Society (BHS) represents
the interests of the 4.3 million people in the UK who ride or
who drive horse-drawn vehicles. With the membership of its Affiliated
Riding Clubs and Bridleway Groups, the BHS is the largest and
most influential equestrian charity in the UK.
2. The equine industry is estimated to be
worth £4 billion and to employ 150,000 people. The BHS is
committed to promoting the interests of horse riders and owners
and the welfare of horses and ponies through education and training.
3. The BHS will only support proposals that
provide access to the English coast for all non-motorised users.
4. The Society recommends that the Bill
be amended so that the proposed legislation contains a general
presumption that access will be provided for all non-motorised
users unless it can be shown that local circumstances militate
against this.
5. User groups have already made joint representations
to Natural England and Government that the new right of access
to the coast should include access for all non motorised users,
and it is extremely frustrating that the Government refuses to
listen to this plea of consensus.
6. A right of responsible access for all
types of non-motorised user has been provided in Scotland for
some years now under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. It includes
the coast, beaches and the foreshore and there is no reason why
that cannot be replicated in England.
7. Many beaches already provide an existing
off road riding resource for horse riders and carriage drivers.
There is a real fear that if access is only provided for walkers,
barriers will be erected to prevent access by other user groups
thereby obstructing access for equestrians that they have enjoyed
time immemorial.
The British Horse Society would welcome the
opportunity to provide oral evidence in support of this submission.
THE SUBMISSION
OF THE
BRITISH HORSE
SOCIETY
1. The British Horse Society (BHS) represents
the interests of the 4.3 million people in the UK who ride or
who drive horse-drawn vehicles. With the membership of its Affiliated
Riding Clubs and Bridleway Groups, the BHS is the largest and
most influential equestrian charity in the UK.
2. The equine industry is estimated to be
worth £4 billion and to employ 150,000 people. The BHS is
committed to promoting the interests of horse riders and owners
and the welfare of horses and ponies through education and training.
3. The BHS works for safer on and off-road
riding and carriage driving through an improved public rights
of way network and seeking to create new opportunities of lawful
off road riding and carriage driving. The BHS works in partnership
with other user groups, local and central government to make rights
of way useful and open to all. It has more than 200 access volunteers
across the country working to achieve this objective, in both
rural and urban areas.
4. The Strategy for the Horse Industry
in England and Wales, published in December 2005, was prepared
by the British Horse Industry Confederation in partnership with
the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport and the Welsh Assembly Government.
5. Aim 5 of the Strategy is to "Increase
access to off-road riding and carriage driving".
6. The length of the public right of way
network currently amounts to 188,000 km, consisting of 146,000
km of footpaths, 32,400 km of bridleways, 3,700 km of byways and
6,000 km of restricted byways. Horse riders therefore, currently
only have access to 22% of public rights of way network.
7. In respect of coastal public rights of
way this figure is reduced to 7%, a figure that is vastly lower
than the national average proportion of rights of way carrying
higher rights. The national average is widely acknowledged to
be inadequate, especially in view of the growth of motor traffic
on roads.
8. Creating a coastal path for walkers only
will reduce the percentage of the overall network that is available
to horse riders even further.
9. Many beaches and estuaries already provide
an existing off road riding resource for horse riders and carriage
drivers. Attached to this response is a copy of the British Horse
Society's Riding on Beaches and Riding on Estuaries
Advisory Leaflets.[17]
These gives details of beaches and estuaries that currently provide
access for equestrians as notified to the Society by local authorities.
This list is expanding each year as more local authorities respond
to the Society's consultation. This access must not be prejudiced
by the proposals to provide access to the English coast solely
for walkers. There is a real fear that barriers will be erected
to prevent access by other user groups if access is only provided
for walkers thereby obstructing the access that equestrians have
enjoyed since time immemorial.
10. The Society will only support proposals
that provide access to the English Coast for all non—motorised
users.
11. The Society recommends that the Bill
be amended so that the proposed legislation contains a general
presumption that access will be provided for all non-motorised
users unless it can be shown that local circumstances militate
against this.
12. The cost of implementing these proposals
is estimated to be £50 million over the next 10 years. Better
value will be achieved by providing access for all non-motorised
users, where ground conditions permit, than just for walkers.
Such a proposal would also have greater economic benefit for all
coastal areas.
13. Multi-user paths offer best value, enabling
families to walk, cycle and ride together, without stiles, giving
people the greatest choice and avoiding littering the countryside
with unsightly barriers and signs. All the user groups have already
made joint representations to Natural England and Government that
the new right of access to the coast should include all non-motorised
users. It is extremely frustrating that the Government refuses
to listen to this plea of consensus.
14. The coastline would become even more
accessible if access was provided for horse riders and cyclists.
Many older people can access countryside areas on horseback but
could not do so on foot because of lack of mobility, which is
overcome when on horseback.
15. At present local authority rights of
way departments are currently under funded. There is a fear that
the new coastal access proposals will divert what scarce resources
they currently have away from the existing network to the new
coastal footpath. The Bill as it stands is only going to improve
access for the user group, which is already best provided for
in terms of access to the countryside. Therefore the Bill will
only provide a marginal improvement for one user group at the
expense of the user groups with a greater need, particularly equestrians.
16. Whilst section 16 of the CROW Act 2000
contains a provision enabling landowners to extend open access
to equestrians, very few landowners have done so. Even the Forestry
Commission, a Government Department, persists in charging horse
riders for access in its forests in the south east, while dedicating
open access for walkers. Therefore, based on current experience,
the chances of new permanent equestrian paths being created "where
possible" under existing legislation, as part of the coastal
access process, are negligible.
17. A right of responsible access for all
types of non-motorised user has been provided in Scotland for
some years now under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. It includes
the coast, beaches and the foreshore and there have been few problems
with it.
18. It is recognised that there will be
some places around the coast, such as on unstable cliffs, where
access for horse riders may not be safe. That is why the legislation
should provide for a general presumption to provide access for
all non-motorised users unless it can be shown that local circumstances
militate against this. Arguably it will equally not be safe for
young children on foot, so the corridor should be placed further
back. However, in some places, just as on many roads nowadays,
and just as in Scotland, equestrians will recognise the dangers
and not seek to use the corridor. The danger should not be exaggerated:
we are not aware of any horse rider having fallen from a cliff
top since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act, but we are aware that
there has been a great deal of enjoyment of the access provided
by the Act.
British Horse Society
May 2008
17 Riding on Beaches can be found at http://www.bhs.org.uk/DocFrame/DocView.asp?id=2031
and Riding on Estuaries found at http://www.bhs.org.uk/DocFrame/DocView.asp?id=2032 Back
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