Ramblers Cymru has helped to achieve access rights for 22% of Wales - over a million hectares of mountain, moor, heath, down, common and forestry land. Go to our ‘Top Ten Access Area in Wales’ if you would like to sample first hand some of the spectacular areas of Wales that are now open for you to enjoy.
Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP) Research
Ramblers Cymru recently undertook research to find out more information about Public Rights of Way management by Local Authorities in Wales. We were keen to identify the factors which contribute to successful deliveries of Rights of Way Improvement Plans (RoWIPs) and to identify examples of ‘best practice’ that could be used in Ramblers Cymru’s future work plans.
Conducted by Ramblers Cymru Consultant Claire Parry, a questionnaire was sent to every Local Authority in Wales and the completion rate was 81.1%.The results varied greatly. In the south, there is a cluster of authorities that have a good level of human resources in relation to their km length of PRoW. This is most marked in Cardiff and Newport, and in the north, the counties with the best levels of human resources in relation to their km length of PRoW are Flintshire and Wrexham. The large rural counties of Wales, including Powys, Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Gwynedd, Conwy, Denbighshire, Anglesey and Monmouthshire have a relatively low level of human resources in relation to their km length of PRoW. Monmouthshire and Denbighshire both have a footpath usability rating of 62%, placing them in the upper part of the table. This is possibly achieved by Monmouthshire’s co-operation with the neighbouring Newport, who are well resourced and the successful engagement of volunteers. Denbighshire also have a good working relationship with the local Ramblers group and the Council’s Countryside Wardens. Anglesey’s ‘Silver Slashers’ volunteer group are a fantastic help for the PRoW team.”
For more information about this research, contact Claire at research@ramblers.org.uk
Coastal Access
Many of you will have heard of the good news that the Marine Bill has provisions for coastal access in England; this will be a combination of a path and open access land to fill the gaps with a 10 year funded programme from Natural England working with local authorities. The evidence suggests that Wales needs similar provisions. The programme to improve infrastructure was announced in 2006 in its second year of funding with the aim of a coast path by 2012. In 2005 the Countryside Council for Wales identified that 40% of the Welsh coast did not have secure public access so we anticipate there will be many gaps to fill.
At the Royal Welsh Show 2007 Minister Jane Davidson AM said that statutory access should 'compliment' and 'add value' to the current infrastructure based programme. Consultations have already taken place on what people in Wales want from ‘coastal access’ provisions and we will continue to work to influence this over the coming months and years.
