The opening up of access land in the final two English regions means that the new right to roam legislation is now fully implemented - but how do you know where you can and can't wander?
Yesterday - Halloween no less - was a historic day for access
campaigners and outdoors people generally with access land in the
final two regions being opened up.
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Signs like this mark
the
edge of open access land
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The Ramblers' Association is
claiming
responsibility. The process, they say, is the result of the
longstanding right to roam campaign which began in 1935 and the
organisation's President, Chris Smith, has congratulated the
government:
"The Government deserve genuine congratulations on having
introduced the Act and now having carried it through to fruition.
What is now needed is a serious look at what might be done on access
to coastal land, particularly to shore and foreshore; then perhaps a
look at riverbanks and woodland."
According to the Ramblers, yesterday's opening of the east and
west of England, means some 1,286,000 hectares of land in England and
Wales has been opened to the public in a staged process which began
in September 2004. The Countryside Agency's figure is 935,000
hectares...
Good News
It's fantastic news for walkers, particularly in certain parts of
the country where access was previously extremely limited such as
Bodmin Moor and the Forest of Bowland. In other regions the impact of
the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) has been less dramatic,
but allows walkers to venture into areas previously out of bounds to
us.
As part of the process, the Ordnance Survey has updated maps to
show the boundaries of access land, which are gradually being
introduced, and thousands of signs have been erected on the ground to
mark the newly opened areas.
The Nitty Gritty
All that access is great, but if you don't use it, then the whole
process is a waste of time. The good news is that there's a whole web
site devoted to Countryside Access at www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk
complete with local maps showing access land and full details of your
rights under the new legislation in downloadable PDF format.
So what are you waiting for? Have a look at the maps, widen your
walking horizons and spare a thought for the thousands of hours of
campaigning that have gone into opening up the countryside generally
and the new act in particular.
