Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeWritten evidence from the Ramblers

1. Introduction

1.1 The Ramblers works to help everyone enjoy the benefits of walking, and to protect the places where people walk. Working with our 115,000 members and 25,000 volunteers we are committed to encouraging and supporting walking, protecting footpaths and rights of way, and preserving the beauty of the countryside and other areas.

2. What steps the government might take in implementing CAP to help tenant farmers and farmers in upland areas, and to take account of issues pertaining to common land?

2.1 The Government must implement part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 throughout England, to ensure up to date and accurate registers of common land to provide accurate base for mapping for CAP.

2.2 Common land is suffering because there is no definitive, up-to-date record of the land and rights. The Commons Act was passed with cross-party and cross-sectoral support in 2006 specifically to address this and other issues. Yet part 1 of the Act, which provides for updating the registers, has only been implemented in seven “pioneer” areas (Blackburn with Darwen, Cornwall, Devon, Hereford, Hertfordshire, Kent and Lancashire), in October 2008. Ministers have announced the deferral of further implementation until at least 2016.

2.3 Common land is one of England’s finest assets. There are 7,000 commons in England covering nearly 400,000 hectares, an area roughly the size of Suffolk. They are nationally and internationally important for their wildlife, landscape and archaeology and virtually all the land is available for public access. Commons are the last remnants of unenclosed land from the medieval period and cover all types of landscape and habitat.

2.4 However, without an up-to-date record it is difficult for commons to benefit from proper management to protect their value for nature conservation and public access, and the livelihoods of those who depend on them as grazing land.

3. How should the government ensure that CAP delivers the best environmental benefits whilst supporting food production?

3.1 The CAP has a clear role to support farmers to produce food and other goods in a sustainable way and to reward farmers for the work they do in providing public goods for which there is no market mechanism.

3.2 One such public good is the provision of recreational access. England’s recreational access infrastructure—public rights of way, open access land and other green spaces—enables people to reconnect with nature, exercise, watch wildlife, revisit history or explore rural towns and villages.

3.3 The English adult population participated in an estimated 2.73 billion visits to the natural environment during 2011–12, and just over half of visits to the natural environment were taken to the countryside (52%).1 Despite the popularity of countryside visits, our access infrastructure is not effectively or adequately supported. The extent and quality of public access opportunities is patchy; good quality access exists in some areas, but in others the recreational infrastructure is fragmented, in poor condition or access is not signposted. The last national survey on the condition of public rights of way was undertaken in 2000 and revealed that on average users were likely to come across a serious obstruction every 2 kilometres.2

3.4 We recognise that recreational infrastructure comes at a cost to land managers. As such, there is a clear need to effectively support and adequately reward land managers to maintain and enhance recreational access, and to provide opportunities for business diversification around recreation and tourism.

3.5 Opportunities for recreation, tourism, and enhancements to access infrastructure have enormous potential to deliver not only rural growth but a range of other Government targets relating to public health, well-being and an increase in public understanding of and support for the environment and farming. These multiple benefits maximise value for taxpayers’ money and provide demonstrable evidence of public gain from subsidies for land management.

3.6 In England walkers spend over £6 billion/year, supporting up to 245,000 full time jobs, helping small businesses grow and diversify in often remote rural areas. Many visitors benefitted from high quality access infrastructure (eg paths, gates). Clear, easy to use, well-promoted path and trail networks encourage more people to make day trips to an area or stay for longer periods, directly supporting local services and businesses. Examples include:

Hadrian’s Wall Path, which has brought £19 million into local communities since opening in 2003.

South West Coast Path, worth £307 million/year to the regional economy.3

3.7 Lack of investment in and the subsequent deterioration of the nation’s access infrastructure will have a severe negative impact upon recreation and in turn, the rural economy. The Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in 2001 revealed starkly the extent to which our countryside and farmland is used as a recreational amenity; the “closure” of the countryside during the outbreak was estimated to have cost the rural economy and tourism industry £5 billion.4

3.8 A major new independent study has concluded that spending CAP funds on improving access to attractive countryside, protecting wildlife and cutting greenhouse gases could produce annual benefits of over £18 billion, for a loss of less than £0.5 billion in UK agricultural production.5

3.9 Physical inactivity costs NHS England £1.8 billion/yr and the wider economy £8 billion/yr.6 The Government has an ambition to reduce this inactivity.7 Our recreational access infrastructure is also, of course a hugely important resource in helping people to get outside and get active. More people walking, climbing, horse riding and enjoying responsible recreation could bring vast savings to the nation’s health bill. Connecting people with nature: contact with the natural environment can improve one’s mental health8 and help meet Government aims to “reconnect people with nature”.9

3.10 Between 2005-12 grants worth £23 million were paid through the HLS agri-environment scheme to landowners who provide a temporary recreational resource for the public. This funded short-term access to: 4,000 ha open access land; 1,450km footpath; 1,250 km bridleway/cyclepath; 57km for people with reduced mobility. The Higher Level Scheme (HLS), closed to new applicants in 2010.

3.11 The HLS scheme has some fundamental flaws: the recreational opportunities it funds are only temporary; rules for publicising access opportunities are weak; the access provided did not have to link up to the wider, permanent access rights of way network (and therefore was often of little use to the public); and the quality of routes varied considerably. A new scheme is required to fund access to the countryside which offers greater benefit to the public.

3.12 Financial support should be made available for land managers and communities to both complement the statutory opportunities already available (exceeding any basic legal requirements), and fund the development of new access. New schemes should be designed to ensure the public gets maximum value for money and long lasting economic benefits from public subsidies. This must include:

Directing funding towards areas where there is clear demand. National and local authorities have already identified strategic priorities for improving access through, for example, the development of Rights of Way Improvement Plans (ROWIPs) or Local Community Plans.

Investing in existing rights of way and open access network. This could provide more public benefit than providing new routes, particularly as budget cuts impact on existing access.

Favour permanent access provision over temporary. This provides the best value for money; it provides clarity about where people can walk; spending on infrastructure such as gates is not wasted when the access agreement ends; access can be shown on OS maps; and the benefits to rural businesses can continue indefinitely. Access “taster periods” could be created to allow landowners to become familiar with the requirements of access.

3.14 Direct payments should be available to individual landowners for permanent improvements to the rights of way network, but also to public bodies and community groups as this would enable the creation of strategic routes which cover different land holdings.

9 October 2013