National Assembly for Wales

North Wales Regional Committee

NWRC(2) 01-06

Report on Open Access to the Countryside

1. Introduction

The North Wales Regional Committee is one of the National Assembly for Wales' five Regional Committees. It covers the electoral region of North Wales.

The role of the Regional Committees, as set out in Standing Order 10.2, is to advise the Assembly on matters affecting their regions, the effect of Assembly policies in those regions and the work of public bodies there.

At its meeting on 3 February 2006 in Canolfan Gymunedol Cae Cymro Community Centre, Clawdd-newydd, Ruthin, the Committee heard the opinions of the people of North Wales on Open Access to the Countryside. Points made by the various presenters and raised by the public are summarised in this report.

2. Presentations on Open Access to the Countryside - Part I

The Committee heard short presentations from various speakers. These are summarised below:

Mr Richard Ninnes, Senior Recreation & Access Officer representing Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

The Countryside Council is an Assembly Sponsored Public Body and has a remit to help all aspects of recreation and access in the countryside.

In the North Region, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) increased the area with rights by nearly 6 times.

76 per cent of regular visitors to the countryside have heard of the Countryside Code. New resource for schools launched in September;

CCW produced Waymarks, which were put up by local authorities and national park authorities. Waymarks are now a common sight in the countryside.

CCW grants have helped the local authorities put in the most essential new infrastructure.

CCW has developed a Countryside Access in Wales website with an up-to-date information about accessible land, routes and restrictions, including permissive access such as on Tir Gofal farms.

OS maps show all statutorily accessible land, as processed and supplied by CCW.

CCW conducts training for local authority and national park authority staff.

CCW’s free publications include guidance on access management;

Natural Buzz campaign - to encourage people into the countryside, for health etc.

Local Access Forums - helping plan access management.

CCW and local authority staff are contacts for farmers and landowners to raise queries.

Recreation in the countryside contributes to Climbing Higher targets. It is good for health and tourism.

Investment in access is investment in health and investment in the economy.

Mr Dafydd Jarrett, Policy Advisor NFU Cymru, made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

There has been a five-fold increase in access opportunities to the countryside following the implementation of the CRoW Act 2000, but there hasn’t been a corresponding five-fold increase in the access budget.

As the access is mainly to privately owned/occupied land, without an equivalent increase in the budget, the increased costs have to be met largely from the landowners that have been affected by the statutory and obligatory designation of their land.

Only a minority of those with access land are able to benefit financially from increased access opportunities.

The increased financial allocation by the Assembly to local authorities is not ringfenced and there is no obligation or indeed audit on local authorities to spend this money on access at all.

The majority of walkers want clearly signposted linear routes away from settlements and farmyards, rather than access to every square inch of the countryside. (This should be borne in mind when considering any possible extension to access.)

Many problems, for example parallel paths and dead-end paths and paths through the middle of working farmyards are caused by the antiquated public right of way network.

The problem can be resolved through the CRoW Rights of Way Improvement Plans.

CRoW Access to open land is for quiet enjoyment on foot;

The CRoW Access land should not be used as exercise areas for dogs and dogs should always be on a short lead and wormed regularly.

NFU Cymru are very supportive of the local access forums and the Countryside Code Campaign. However, some walkers use the excuse that they have a right of access to any land.

The National Assembly should provide a framework supplemented with adequate funding to allow a balance of farming, conservation and access to privately owned land. Farms are after all the areas where farmers make their living.

Open access to the countryside is an important issue for the NFU Cymru members.

People want one or two designated safe paths rather than many paths which aren't in use any more: The CRoW Act is an excellent opportunity through rights of way improvement plans to modernise and rationalise our access to meet modern day leisure needs.

Mr Gareth Wyn Jones, the Union's County Executive Officer for Denbigh and Flint representing Farmers’ Union of Wales, made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

The FUW welcomes discussion of Part 1 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.

The CRoW Act gives the public a statutory right to walk across mapped open country.

In Wales the Countryside Council for Wales had responsibility for mapping the access areas.

The FUW believes that whilst it is still too early to judge the full impact of open access on landowners, there are a number of issues of concern.

The FUW recognizes the importance of open air recreation to the general public, and works to ensure that the balance between the countryside as a work place for farmers and the leisure needs of visitors.

The main issues of concern raised consistently by the Union’s members are the occupiers’ insurance costs, dogs in the countryside, trespass, and a perceived lack of public information and education on access areas.

The National Assembly should promote more strongly public awareness about the extent of access rights under the Act.

The presence of a co-ordinated warden service would reassure the landowning community that access legislation balances the needs of farming.

The FUW believes that a public awareness and education campaign is an important factor in reducing potential conflict.

Dogs in the countryside continue to be a major problem for landowners.

The issue of funding is of great concern to the FUW: while the National Assembly funding is not ring fenced, local authorities, with a range of competing budgetary pressures, may consider access to be a low priority for spending.

until there is sufficient funding to meet current CRoW demands, any moves to increase access provision to coastal areas should be vigorously opposed.

The NWRC should examine the impact of illegal vehicular access on commons or other land.

Mr Richard Siddons, Forest District Manager Forestry Commission Wales (FC), made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

300 hectares of the Commission’s estate was mapped by CCW as registered land. It is predominantly mountain moor, heath or down lands. The main route that Forestry Commission has focused on is voluntarily (rather than statutory) land dedication - 91.5 hectares of open land has been dedicated as open access land.

The FC has dedicated the majority of its freeholder estate in Wales, which meant developing new processes to secure public safety by formal exclusion: while walks are now on the public estate by right, cyclists and horse riders are still allowed on but by permission.

Full exclusion of public has been agreed only for large-scale tree harvesting work and dangerous motor sports particularly rallying.

Local management decides whether to exclude the public from the woods where other activities are taking place. This decision is made on the basis of risk assessment.

Within a period from 28 May to 28 November 2005 for a 6 month period to date there was 298 exclusions: the majority are for tree felling - 256, or 85 per cent, motor sport has been around 13 per cent, smaller ones for civil engineering, mountain biking events and one for unexploded ordinance.

The Forestry Commission has its own relevant authority status which means it manages its own exclusions in woodland only.

3. Views expressed by Committee Members and Members of the Public - Part I

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM noted that adequate information is not provided to the public as to exactly what access means and what the limitations/rights are. He asked whether the CCW considered public education/information to be part of their remit or whether it was a broader issue.

Richard Ninnes explained that public education/information was within the CCW remit. However, for CCW, public information/education is an issue of partnership with other authorities, such as local authorities and the Forestry Commission.

Dafydd Jarrett added that he agreed with what Mr Ninnes said and he stated that the NFU Cymru assisted in drawing up the code. However, while the majority of people followed the code, there was a minority who took advantage.

Bob Barton, Denbighshire County Councillor endorsed the points made about the funding. He expressed an opinion that whenever new legislation creates new funding, this money should be ringfenced - i.e., used for what it's given to. He expressed an opinion that it was absolutely essential the true cost of the signposting is worked out right from the start.

Brynle Williams AM supported Mr Barton’s view that funding should be dedicated to a specific purpose. He stated that the lack of money for policing was a problem. Footpaths also needed to be rationalised: instead of many paths of uncertain quality leading to the same place there should be fewer sensible graded paths.

Alan Pugh AM stated that getting more parts of Wales available for open access was very important and on balance the open access legislation was a good thing. In Wales public health could be improved by changing attitudes to smoking, diet and exercise. However, access should be responsible and safe.

Brynle Williams AM said that all parties involved (FUW, NFU, Forestry Commission and Countryside Council for Wales) have responsibility for safe access provision and stressed the importance of dog vaccination.

Karen Sinclair AM inquired if there was any evidence to support the claim that the insurance costs for farmers have increased after the introduction of the CRoW Act.
Gareth Wyn Jones quoted a case where an FUW member faced increased insurance costs and offered to contact the insurance company to get a generic response to whether open access has affected insurance premiums. 

Action: Mr Gareth Wyn Jones / Clerk

Stewart Davies, County Councillor for Llangollen expressed fear that the Youth Hostel Association (YHA)in Llangollen faced closure whereas it was a very useful facility.

Eleanor Burnham AM, the Chair supported Mr Davies, stating that the YHA is a very important body providing access to the countryside for many people.

Denise Idris Jones AM inquired about the dissemination of information about the countryside code to schoolchildren.

Richard Ninnes replied that the CCW has different resources for primary and secondary schools, as well as for outdoor groups, scouts etc.

Michael Skuse, a campaigner for protection for rural Wales inquired whether the public would be denied access to Forestry Commission land after the installation of 140 megawatts of wind power turbines.

Richard Siddons replied that the access to the forest would not be denied in any way or form, with the exception of the area around the turbines while they were constructed. He stressed that the question of whether to install the turbines was still being decided.

Janet Ryder AM asked if there was any evidence of diversification to help to increase the farmers’ income and the income of other groups associated with rural areas.

Dafydd Jarrett explained that while the increased access helped the local economy, not everybody benefited as there were many hidden costs involved.

Brynle Williams AM suggested that the CRoW Act must go hand in hand with planning, as different projects would bring money into rural Wales and keep the money there.

Mark Isherwood AM inquired to what extent the reputable user groups could share in making managed access work in partnership with the agencies and land owners.

Gareth Wyn Jones replied that that the FUW had strongly supported the local access forums within local authorities as well as other access forums.

Sandy Mewies AM stated that the presentations had been well balanced showing that there were rights and responsibilities on everybody involved. Given that the CRoW Act was reasonably new in its implementation she wondered if there was any work going on by the unions and by local authorities and Assembly Government to see what the financial implications were.

Richard Ninnes replied that certainly such work was planned, but it was a bit early to conduct a detailed study of economic benefits just yet.

Carl Sargeant AM said that he supported the introduction of the CRoW Act as he had complaints, including those from members of the Ramblers’ Association who experienced problems going across land they were entitled to pass through. While he appreciated that access should be responsible and that the CRoW Act did not give people the right to roam everywhere, he also stressed that all designated paths should remain available for walking as they are part of the old countryside arrangements and as such did not belong to any particular person - they belonged to everybody.

Adrian Davies, Anglesey County Council and Howard White from Flintshire agreed with the point made by Brynle Williams that too many paths leading to the same place were unnecessary and that it was better to have fewer, but safer paths.

Gareth Wyn Jones added that if there were grounds for it, farmers could redirect a path. To do this, they would need to follow a proper consultation process with the relevant agencies and local authority. However, as the whole process cost around £1500 pounds, it would be beneficial if the costs of this process could be reduced.

Karen Sinclair AM inquired what the CCW was doing to ensure that the actual category of the route was made clear so that people did not find themselves breaking the law inadvertently.

Richard Ninnes replied that the CCW issued guidance to local authorities on best standards in way marking using the standard colours as appropriate.

Dafydd Jarrett agreed with Brynle Williams that farmers had opened up their permissive paths and that system went hand in hand with the public footpaths. Councils are responsible for the surfaces on the paths, but they need to be realistic about which paths are kept open.

4. Presentations on Open Access to the Countryside - Part II

Sergeant Pete Charleston, Wildlife and Environmental Crime Officer North Wales Police, in his oral presentation made the following points:

The introduction of access provisions under the CRoW Act had little impact on North Wales Police, because although the Act imposed restrictions on the use of open access land, if no criminal offences were committed, conforming with the CRoW Act requirements was purely a civil matter and not a matter for North Wales police.

The off-road use of motor vehicles was not an issue of open access under the CRoW Act, but an issue under Road Traffic Act.

Police have many powers to deal with illegal use of motor vehicles, they can:

- simply report offenders for a whole host of offences;

- issue them with fixed penalty tickets;

- caution them at the discretion of the officer concerned;

- take them to court.

The police also have wider powers, including:

- the power to seize vehicles where warnings have been disregarded.

The courts have the opportunity to disqualify offenders.

Whereas other agencies, organisations and individuals regularly report difficulties with illegal use of off-road vehicles, the North Wales police do not consider this to be a policing priority.

The policing priorities are identified through a number of ways, often through government but from local communities as well and it is clear that illegal off roading does not feature as a priority from any of those groups.

However, North Wales Police have shown a commitment to addressing problems where they occur: for the past year they have been working in partnership with a number of organisations, local authority, Forestry Commission, farming unions, CCW, in order to educate people in relation to off-roading; they are actively involved with all Wales off road motorcycle group, recognising that the provision of legal sites is needed in order to make enforcement effective.

many offenders come from outside Wales and many offend simply through ignorance of the law.

Mr Eryl Williams, Councillor, Cabinet Lead Member for Environment representing Denbighshire County Council, made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

Denbighshire was the first council to develop open access in Wales. It has been involved in the initial trial and piloting of open access closures and restrictions in conjunction with the Countryside Council for Wales. The county was the first to appoint a dedicated Open Access Warden.

The county’s countryside service owns and manages a large area of upland including the Moel Famau Country Park. The highest area of the county is y Berwyn, which was considered to be an ideal location to pilot the open access definition, how land could be identified and managed.

It is important the council ensures that the landowners responsible for caring for the landscape are confident their needs have been addressed to minimise the impact on their livelihood.

Many of those living in the countryside might take benefit from this new access as an advantage for developing new businesses that can prosper from the opportunity that is presented by the new users.

The responsibility to define and record the access areas on high land and commons lay with the CCW. The actual implementation of the access on the ground, however, has been the responsibility of the local authority (in Denbighshire as a result of the CRoW Act there are now 12,252 hectares of access land, 2000 ha of which lies within the Clwydian range).

During the pilot project two detailed reports covering whole of the county were prepared for the CCW examination.

The work of the access team has been to ensure that the visitors get maximum benefit from the new rights provided by the legislation, whilst ensuring the concerns of the landowners and managers have been addressed.

One of the key points made by the many owners was the importance of having sufficient and capable wardens on the ground.

The council hopes to be able to provide permanent warden in the future but this is dependant on funding being made available as well as implementing the measures outlined in the two original study reports.

The council installed new gates and stiles with the help of landowners where they have identified pressure will exist to enter the land and erected the distinct access symbols and waymarks.

In a number of popular locations information boards have been erected; the most useful paths have been identified across the access land and many of these have been marked with signposts.

The access team promoted the new countryside access codes both at the points of access and directly with users.

The Council is carefully monitoring access So far there has not been any difficulty for users or landowners.

Mr Martin Dowson, Countryside Protection Officer representing Ramblers’ Association Wales, made an oral presentation in which he made the following points:

Ramblers Wales is part of the GB based Ramblers’ Association.

Ramblers Wales plays an active role in Welsh life, organising walks for people to explore their local area, campaigning to improve walkers’ rights and promoting the wider benefits of walking ("Lonc a Chlonc" scheme was one of the first healthy walking projects in Britain).

Ramblers Wales’ long-running campaign to secure greater access to the countryside was the trigger for the development of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) that opened up over 350,000 hectares of new land for walkers.

It is vital to recognise the importance and secure the quality of the access granted under the CRoW Act as it gives everyone the chance to enjoy the countryside.

The latest figures from the Wales Audit Office show that over 60per cent of the rights of way network remains in an unusable condition, which represents a significant decline on last year’s figure and suggests that local authorities are not fulfilling their legal responsibility and tackling the problem in a coordinated way. Walking tourism, currently estimated to generate £548 million for the Welsh economy every year, is bound to decline as a result.

Over 22 per cent of the land area of Wales has been dedicated for open country access under the CRoW Act last year. Large numbers of people can benefit from the healthy walking opportunities.

The Ramblers Wales commends the Welsh Assembly Government and CCW for their work on mapping and FC for their work in dedicating land for public access.

In the future Ramblers Wales

- will encourage people to walk and seek access to other open country, e.g. waterside, other forestry and woods;

- stress the need for a joint action plan (Welsh Assembly Government, CCW, WLGA and users) to invest in getting paths clear and to scope researching unrecorded paths;

- encourage the development of coastal access consistent with the CRoW Act 2000 (using section 3);

- express concern that gaining access to open county may be compromised by proliferation of wind turbines in the Strategic Search Areas;

- will work with others in partnership to seek shared goals and develop volunteers and staff.

5. Views expressed by Committee Members and Members of the Public - Part II

Janet Ryder AM stated that the problem of off-roading is related to greater access, as a greater number of cars come into the rural countryside.On the weekends it can be difficult to drive on some rural roads because of the cars parked on the sides of the road. She asked if this was due to the lack of car parking space or because people need to be educated.

Pete Charleston replied that the tackling of off-roading depends on the size of the problem and areas where it's taking place. As a rule, the areas suffering from the illegal off-roading also experience problems with anti social behaviour and environmental damage. Although the number of vehicles can be quite small, they can do extensive damage to environmentally sensitive areas. At the moment the North Wales Police are deciding how to combat the problem. One of the suggestions is the use of more sophisticated surveillance techniques.

Eryl Williams stated that Denbighshire was the only county in North Wales which had legislation in accordance with which the county has the authority to put yellow lines down in certain areas making people park in proper wardened and ticketed places.

Ieuan Wyn Jones AM asked Councillor Williams’ opinion on whether money given to Councils should it be hypothecated or not. He did not agree with hypothecation because it stopped local authorities from being flexible in terms of their funding.

Eryl Williams replied that it was fine for the funding to be hypothecated if the amount was correct and costed out properly, with regard to inflation, from the beginning. It was important that the Minister understood the issue.

Eleanor Burnham AM, the Chair supported Councillor Williams and promised to inform the Minister stressing the importance of the correct funding calculation. Action: Chair/Clerk

Councillor Huw Evan expressed his concern regarding the off-road use of 4x4 vehicles on farm land, bridle ways and footpaths. He inquired if there was any policy on this issue.

Pete Charleston replied that the North Wales had no set policy in relation to illegal use of off-road vehicles: it was a criminal offence that the police dealt with it as situations demanded. In most cases the information did not demonstrate a need to take pro-active operations but where on occasions where that evidence did come to light the police would do their utmost to do so.

Alun Pugh AM stated that cyclists and other vehicle road users do not always coexist happily on the country lanes. He recalled that there was a plan in Denbighshire to create a long distance footpath and cycle way from St Asaph up to Ruthin on the track bed of the old railway and asked the Council to look at it again as it would be a valuable resource.

Eryl Williams replied that Denbigshire indeed needed cycle paths. He stressed that it was not just a single path from point A to point B that was needed but a path that would travel through the villages, so that people could cycle to the local pub and the shops, as well as travelling from Denbighshire to Ruthin.

Sandy Mewies AM agreed that a lot of the off-road motorcycle groups wanted to behave responsibly. She suggested that a special police unit be set up so the off-road policing could be more rigorous (such units existed in other parts of the country). While understanding that the off-roading was not a priority, she asked if this was kept under review on a regular basis.

Pete Charleston confirmed that indeed the issue was kept under constant review. He stated that while other police forces in the UK had off-road units, the North Wales Police decided against it, primarily for health and safety reasons.

Anne Jones AM noted the good work the Denbigshire County Council did on the access to the countryside, but observed that the rural areas adjacent to the urban areas should be developed as well.

Eryl Williams mentioned that in Denbighshire County Council provided recreational areas for walking close to urban areas.

Brynle Williams AM spoke about complaints he received in respect of cycle users and mountain bikers particularly using public walkways and footpaths. He pointed out the emerging problem of the clashing interests of the mountain bikers, ramblers, horseriders and off roaders.

Colin Antwis, Disability Access Advisor to Wales Tourist Board, pointed out that the interests of disabled walkers should also be taken into account:

- the suitable paths should be clearly categorised and signposted accordingly;

- parking for disabled people;

Styles are a barrier not just for those who come into the category of the Disability Discrimination Act, but also to those with a temporary problem like a broken leg, and to guide dogs for the blind.

Howard Sutcliffe, the Head of the Denbighshire County Council's Warden Service, spoke of the Service's partnership with the Countryside Council for Wales, the Forestry Commission and the Police. The wardens on the ground carried out a significant chunk of the project with the above organisations, initiating much of the pilot work. The Warden Service receives grant from the Welsh Assembly Government through the CCW. 50 per cent of wardenship depends on it, and the Warden Service would like it to continue.

Denise Idris Jones AM asked whether the coastal access could be given the same treatment as the countryside access.

Mark Isherwood AM pointed out that to improve the access more efficiently; public bodies should work in partnership with voluntary groups. For example, certain motorised user groups propose that the police work in partnership with the responsible user communities, sharing intelligence so that anti social behaviour instances could be logged and reported. He stated that periodic meetings with the local council were not enough.

Pete Charleston replied that the North Wales Police shares this view and cooperates not only with legal off-roading community, but also with much wider community in the area and individuals.

Margaret Thomas from Snowdonia Society spoke of the importance of the use of public transport to get to recreational rural destinations.

Carl Sargeant AM mentioned that to make the public transport access to the countryside viable, it was desirable to improve its quality. He also spoke in support of the improvement of the disabled access to the countryside.

The Chair thanked all the presenters, Committee Members and Members of the Public for their participation in discussion.