Inland Waterways: Leisure
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to inland waters for responsible recreational users.
Answered by Emma Hardy
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and encourages safe and responsible access to the countryside through the Countryside Code and support for nationwide water safety campaigns.
Public access onto around 3,400 miles of our regulated inland waterways, including several of the larger rivers, is available through the licensing regimes of the navigation authorities that own or manage them.
As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, Defra committed to consulting on measures to ensure that everyone has access to nature close to home and to strengthen the public’s legal rights to access through an Access to Nature Green Paper to be published during this Parliament. This includes exploring the feasibility of increasing access onto unregulated waterways, and Defra is committed to working with stakeholders as this develops.
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →