Part I of the Countryside and Rights of Way 2000 (CRoW) introduced a new right of access on foot to mapped open country and registered common land in England and Wales.
Starting in November 2001 the Countryside Agency (in England) and the Countryside Council for Wales (in Wales) undertook the process of producing maps showing the areas of land that qualify as either open country or registered common land. This process finished with the commencement of the right of access in the West and East of England on the 31 Oct 2005
Open country is defined in CRoW as mountain, moor, heath and down. However, CRoW does not contain definitions of these land types and so, prior to beginning the mapping process, the Countryside Agency produced its mapping methodology, which includes the definitions that it has used to decide what is, and what isn't, mountain, moor, heath and down.
The Countryside Agency (CA) and the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) had to include all land which they consider to be wholly or predominantly mountain, moor, heath or down. The CA and CCW could move the boundary to make it more obvious to landowners and users on the ground and exclude areas under 5 hectares if they consider that they serve no useful purpose.
They must also included all registered common land on the map, that is, land registered under the Commons Registration Act 1965.
There are five stages to the process
Draft maps
Following the publication of all the draft maps there was a public consultation lasting three months during which time anyone could make a comment to the effect that land had either been incorrectly shown as open country or registered common land or that it had been incorrectly omitted.
Provisional maps
The second maps show the results of the public consultation on the draft map, and reflect the decisions taken by the CA and CCW on all the submissions made. At this stage landowners and others with a legal interest in any land shown on the maps have a right of appeal, although walkers and other users do not.
Conclusive maps
The third and final set of maps shows the results of the appeals process (appeals made by landowners and others are decided by the Planning Inspectorate).
Commencement
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (in England) or the Welsh Assembly government (in Wales) issues a commencement order stating when the new access will commence.
Review
CRoW also contains a requirement that the conclusive maps are reviewed no more than ten years after publication, and no less than every ten years after that.
More information
- Conclusive maps
- The conclusive map is the definitive record of what is considered to be open country or registered common land. Find out how to see the map here, as well as the timetable for implementation of the new right across England and Wales.
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- What you can do on access land
- The new right of access is only one on foot. This section will tell you both what you can and what you can't do on access land. It also covers higher rights of access - none of which are affected by the introduction of the new right contained in CRoW.
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- The closures and restrictions system
- When implementing CRoW the intention has been to balance the interests of users with many other considerations, including nature conservation, land management and national heritage. To do this a system of restricting access has been established - find out more about this system in this section.
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- 'Excepted' land
- There are a number of categories of land to which, even if they qualify as open country or registered common land, the new right will not apply. These are listed in the legislation and, together, are known as 'excepted' land. Find out what they are and what this means for you in this section.
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- Agri-environment schemes
- There are other systems in place that allow walkers access to the countryside, of which one is the agri-environment scheme. Find out more details of this - and how you could use it - in this section.
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- Other Sections of the CRoW Act
- The new right of access is contained in Pat 1 of CRoW - read a summary of the other parts here - dealing with rights of way, nature conservation, wildlife protection and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
