Infodoc : Sciences, Techniques et Culture

The recent government Green Paper on access to the open countryside has stated that unless clear evidence is provided that the volontary extension of public access to open land is feasible, legislation will be drawn up to enforce a statutory right to roam over large areas of open land in England and Wales. Thes proposals have provoked considerable debate in the media and have led the Country Landowners Association to devise its own proposals for increasing access through voluntary mechanisms. One existing mechanism for creating additional countryside access is through voluntary access agreements under agri-environment schemes. This study examines the attitudes for farmers and land managers to these agreements and discusses the lessons which can be learnt regarding the development and [...]

The recent government Green Paper on access to the open countryside has stated that unless clear evidence is provided that the volontary extension of public access to open land is feasible, legislation will be drawn up to enforce a statutory right to roam over large areas of open land in England and Wales. Thes proposals have provoked considerable debate in the media and have led the Country Landowners Association to devise its own proposals for increasing access through voluntary mechanisms. One existing mechanism for creating additional countryside access is through voluntary access agreements under agri-environment schemes. This study examines the attitudes for farmers and land managers to these agreements and discusses the lessons which can be learnt regarding the development and operation of future initiatives which hope to provide additional access on a voluntary basis. While it is shown that there is an overall willingness among many land managers to help in improving current levels of access there are significant numbers who reject the notion of allowing additional access to their land. It is also revealed that the current operation of voluntary access agreements has had little success in establishing the kind of coherent targeting strategy required under any national initiative to increase access through voluntary means.