11/23/22, 8:36 PM National parks access

National parks access

Right to roam cur­tailed in many parts of UK’s fam­ous open
spaces, study finds

The Guardian · 23 Nov 2022 · 4 · Helena Hor­ton

The major­ity of many of the national parks in Eng­land and Wales are shut off
to walk­ers, ana­lysis by cam­paign­ers has found, as they ask for lar­ger areas to
be opened to the pub­lic.

Research by the Cam­paign for National Parks shows that just 10% of the Pem­-
broke­shire coast land is open to the pub­lic. Only 36% of land is access­ible in
the Peak Dis­trict, which was the first des­ig­nated national park, and given the
status in 1951 after protests over the right to freely roam in the coun­tryside,
most not­ably the Kinder Scout tres­pass.
The cam­paign also found that only half of Dart­moor, the New Forest and the
Lake Dis­trict are open to the pub­lic. The York­shire Dales are slightly more
open, with 60% access­ible.

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11/23/22, 8:36 PM National parks access

Much of the land in the parks is privately oper­ated, for instance used for farm­-
ing. However, the same is true in Scot­land, where there is a right to roam all
over the coun­tryside regard­less of own­er­ship, mean­ing all parks are access­ible
to the pub­lic.
The Green MP Car­oline Lucas recently tabled a right to roam bill in par­lia­ment,
ask­ing for access to rivers, woods and green­belt land. The bill will be debated
early next year.
She has called for more of the national parks to be open to the pub­lic. Lucas
told the Guard­ian: “There is over­whelm­ing evid­ence that time spent in nature
makes a huge con­tri­bu­tion to our phys­ical health and men­tal well­being, yet
access to nature remains vastly unequal across dif­fer­ent parts of the coun­try,
and people from eth­nic minor­it­ies or with low incomes are even less likely to
live near access­ible green space.
“The prime min­is­ter said on the steps of Down­ing Street that he remained
com­mit­ted to lev­el­ling up – well, extend­ing the right to roam across rivers,
woods, grass­lands and green­belt is a tan­gible example of how to deliver.”
At present, the Coun­tryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 gives a legal right of
pub­lic access to about 8% of Eng­land, includ­ing moun­tains, moor­land, heaths,
some down­land and com­mons, along­side the more recently cre­ated Eng­land
Coast Path. Ninety-seven per cent of rivers are off lim­its to the pub­lic, and tens
of thou­sands of acres of wood­land have benefited from pub­lic sub­sidy yet
remain pub­licly inac­cess­ible. This includes areas in national parks.
Dr Rose O’Neill, the chief exec­ut­ive of the Cam­paign for National Parks, said:
“The Covid pan­demic has illus­trated just how import­ant national parks are for
people’s health, well­being and qual­ity of life. They are enjoyed by mil­lions yet
there remains real inequal­ity in access.
“When national parks were cre­ated by the 1949 National Parks and Coun­-
tryside Act, it was hailed as a people’s charter for the open air.
“It’s time to renew that prom­ise and bring powers and invest­ment up to date
so that people from all walks of life, irre­spect­ive of their back­ground, can get to
explore these amaz­ing places.
“Extend­ing the right to roam is key. Gov­ern­ment also have a major oppor­tun­-
ity with the lev­el­ling-up bill cur­rently passing through par­lia­ment now to give
national parks a new pur­pose and powers for the 21st cen­tury, so they can do
more to boost nature recov­ery, com­bat inequal­ity and the effects of cli­mate
change and open these land­scapes up to every­one.”

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