It's official: 1/3 of coast has no satisfactory access
The Ramblers, Britain’s walking charity, calls for an end to ‘no-go’ areas, access blackspots and diversions on the day Natural England (Thursday 30 July) publish new maps of England’s coast.
The English coast is awash with holidaymakers in July and August yet a lack of clarity on where people can walk often muddies the waters. And makes it harder for people to leave the deckchair and explore the coastline.
Our coast is one of the most heavily developed and urbanised in the world – there are over 120 seaside towns in all and almost one third of it is developed in one way or another. A survey by Natural England found over one third had no recognised access rights*. On average, walkers can only stroll for 2 miles without hitting and obstruction or being diverted.
Another issue is private beaches. The Marine Conservation Guide to Good Beaches found about 170 private beaches in Devon and Cornwall. Devon County Council claimed that only three quarters of their beaches have public access.
The government is backing a new legal right to coastal access. And Natural England is currently designing a coastal route which will enable the public to walk with certainty from one end of the coast to the other, currently an impossibility. They plan to recognise the coastal path as a National Trail.
Tom Franklin, chief executive, the Ramblers said: “Today our beaches will be full of children building sandcastles or families strolling along beautiful vistas yet access to our coast is vulnerable and fragmented. The public needs the government to hold firm and introduce legislation that will make access to our coast the envy of Europe and the world and boost small coastal businesses that are badly suffering during the recession.”
*No access at all, permissive or de-facto access
No-go areas:
Cumbria:
The Holker Hall Estate – part of the Duke of Devonshire’s 75,000-acre northern landholdings – has no access to a portion of coastal land, forcing walkers on the Cumbrian Coastal Path to detour 6.5km/4 miles inland.
Lancashire:
Pilling Bank – near Cockerham Sands, the local authority has imposed a ban on all rights of way along the flood defences. Few other local authorities have done this.
Hampshire:
The Beaulieu Estate – although it accepts the right of way along the Beaulieu river estuary, there is no access to the adjacent beach.
Durham:
More than a quarter of the Durham coast path, near Horden, is ‘permissive’ and could be closed to access without notice, at any time.
Yorkshire:
Filey – The Cleveland Way ends at this seaside town. From here on all routes are blocked by a number of private holiday villages.
Norfolk:
There is no legal pathway between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton, and there is no public access from the point at Lynn to Snettisham Beach.
Isle of Wight:
Osbourne House – the splendid Isle of Wight coastal path is forced inland around the private beach that belongs to the English heritage-owned stately home overlooking the Solvent.
