The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Access Appeals (Wales)
About Part I of The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
The following is an extract from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 explanatory notes.
PART I: ACCESS TO THE COUNTRYSIDE
Summary
Part I of the Act is intended to give greater freedom for people to explore
open countryside. It contains provisions to introduce a new statutory right
of access for open-air recreation to mountain, moor, heath, down and registered
common land. It also includes a power to extend the right to coastal land
by order, and enables landowners voluntarily to dedicate irrevocably any
land to public access.
There will be restrictions on the new right - for example, the Act includes
provisions for landowners to exclude or restrict access for any reason for
up to 28 days a year, and to exclude dogs on grouse moors and in small fields
during lambing time, without seeking permission. Landowners will also be
able to seek further exclusions or restrictions on access for reasons of
land management, fire prevention and to avoid danger to the public. The
Countryside Council for Wales (in England, the Countryside Agency - together
referred to as the countryside bodies) and in national parks, the National
Park authorities, will be able to give directions for these purposes and,
in addition, will be able to direct the exclusion or restriction of access
on grounds of nature and heritage conservation. The Act also includes provisions
for further restrictions on dogs on access land.
There is a long history of people desiring to have greater access to open countryside. Since the turn of the last century some reforms have been made, for example the Law of Property Act 1925 gave people the right of access for air and exercise to metropolitan and urban district commons, including large areas in the Lake District and South Wales. In 1949, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act provided for the creation of public access to open country by agreement or order: some 50,000 hectares of access are thought to have been secured under this Act. Despite such measures, it is estimated that there are still around 500,000 hectares of open countryside in England and Wales where access is not permitted and a further 600,000 hectares where public access occurs on an informal or de facto basis 1.
In February 1998 the Government issued a consultation paper, Access to the Open Countryside in England and Wales 2, which invited views on how best to secure more and better access to open countryside. The paper sought views on both statutory and voluntary approaches to achieving greater access, and estimated that the total extent of mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land was some 1.2 to 1.8 million hectares or around 10% of the land area of Wales and England. The consultation paper set out key criteria against which the approaches would be judged - extent, quality and permanence of access, together with cost, clarity and certainty, and monitoring and enforcement.
The consultation paper attracted over 2,000 responses from a wide range of organisations and individuals, including recreational users, landowners and local authorities. Of these, a large majority supported the introduction of a statutory right of access. The Government undertook an analysis of the responses and consulted further, including with other Government departments, relevant statutory agencies, and organisations representing landowners, recreational users and conservation interests.
