Memorandum submitted by Cumbria Countryside
Access Board (DMB 11)
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on
the EFRA Committee's consultation on the coastal access provisions
of the draft Marine Bill.
We are pleased to provide this joint response
to the consultation from the Cumbria Countryside Access Partnership
Board, representing the views of both Cumbria County Council and
the Cumbria Local Access Forum. This follows our earlier joint
response in August 2007 to the initial DEFRA consultation on coastal
access.
1. We strongly support the Government's
vision for coastal access, and the introduction of new legislation
through the Marine Bill as an effective means of enabling increased
access to the coast. We recognise the need to develop a comprehensive
and balanced set of appropriate measures for securing access to
the coast for the many different situations that will apply, and
welcome the opportunity to comment in due course on Natural England's
outline scheme in much more detail before its submission to the
Secretary of State.
2. We particularly support the step by step
approach proposed for planning and implementing sections of the
coast; ie the requirement for detailed consultation with affected
landowners, Parish Councils, Local Authorities and Local Access
Forums culminating in a "coastal access report" for
each section to the Secretary of State. Local liaison, knowledge
and brokerage will clearly be critical in helping to secure the
best route and in resolving conflicts, and should be built in
as a key element in the development process.
3. We agree that establishment works to
facilitate and manage the new or improved access (infrastructure,
signage, restrictions or exclusions) should (normally) be undertaken
by the local access authority, and that this work be fully funded
by Natural England. As with the development and management of
National Trails, we would want clear assurances that the ongoing
management and maintenance of the coastal route and its infrastructure
will be properly funded by Natural England, and will not place
a burden on local access authorities.
4. We believe the Draft Bill strikes a fair
balance between the rights it provides for public access and the
rights of owners and occupiers. However, we recognise there will
be justifiable exceptions where owners or businesses should be
compensated for the creation of coastal access rights where it
impinges upon their activities or privacy (eg proved and significant
loss of trade).
5. We accept that there will be justifiable
exceptions to, and deviations from, a route giving continuous
access to the coast, and that the balance of interests will best
be served through local development and consultation, using the
step by step approach proposed for planning and implementing sections
of the coast.
6. As set out in our previous response,
we advocate that higher rights for other users such as cyclists
or horse riders should be expressly provided for (as options)
in the Draft Bill, so that they can be used where appropriate
and desirable to improve access along the coast. We believe this
provides a stronger framework than merely seeking "local
opportunities to improve these rights as part of the coastal access
project" as set out in the NE guidance.
Duncan Graham
Chairman of the Cumbria Local Access Forum
on behalf of the Cumbria Countryside Access Board
Partnership
May 2008
| 
