GOVERNMENT walks on by [30 July 2003]

Leading walking charities left disappointed at Government's walking 'discussion paper'

Britain's two leading walking charities, the Ramblers' Association (RA) and Living Streets, expressed their disappointment at the Government's continuing reluctance to demonstrate its commitment to walking. The latest evidence for this is the half-hearted stab it has made with the launch of a 'discussion paper' , despite its promises to publish a National Walking Strategy .

Disappointment was further fuelled by the fact that this 'discussion paper' was dribbled out with a sentence at the end of a press release on a different subject.

Tom Franklin, Director of Living Streets, said,

"The Government is failing the test of leadership. For the past six years, the Government has promised to take a lead in promoting walking. It has failed to do so. Today's half-hearted document, and the manner in which it has been published, is further evidence that the Government would rather that walking simply disappeared from its agenda. We won't let it do so, and we'll continue to press the Government to take walking seriously."

Emily Richmond, Campaigner for the RA said,

"People are walking less and this is having serious knock-on effects . What is needed is a clear lead from Government with funding and resources to promote walking, challenging targets to reduce the decline in walking, and explicit links to wider policy areas such as education and transport to ensure that real improvements can be delivered."