Countryside: Access
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to publish an (a) Green Paper and (b) public consultation on access to nature; and what steps he has taken to improve people's access to nature.
Answered by Mary Creagh
We are currently developing policy to improve access to nature, working closely with other Government departments and key stakeholders, and further information will be available in due course. In addition, we are already delivering key initiatives aimed at improving people’s access to nature, including:
- Completing the King Charles III England Coast Path, which will become the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world. With over 2,400 miles of the route now approved and 1,430 miles already open, this will also create 250,000 hectares of new open access land within the coastal margin.
- Designating Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route as a National Trail across the north of England.
- Delivering the £16 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which is designed to make our protected landscapes, national trails, forests, and the wider countryside more inclusive and accessible to all.
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