Thank you to constituents who have approached me regarding Access to Nature. Here in Sussex, we are blessed with a wonderful national park and AONBs (area of outstanding natural beauty), incredible coastlines, extensive woodlands and fantastic countryside. Like so many of us, I enjoy and appreciate our wonderful open spaces and landscapes as well as outdoor activities for the physical, mental and spiritual benefits they offer.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a right to roam across open access land, giving the public a right of access to nature including most areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin. England has a fantastic network of footpaths, and the public has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside and we have no plans to change this.
While England already has world-leading access to nature - with some 120,000 miles of access through our countryside, we took steps to improve this further. Our Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 set out a new and ambitious commitment that everyone should live within 15-minute walk of a green or blue space.
We are already delivering the £14.5 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which consists of a package of targeted measures in our protected landscapes, national trails, forests and the wider countryside to make these green and blue spaces more accessible. More than £3.5 million has already been spent on making our protected landscapes more accessible, including on creating and improving footpaths to ensure that the countryside is accessible to everyone.
We have supported and enhanced access to the countryside through the England Coast Path and supported our network of National Trails. Nearly 800 miles of the England Coast Path are now open, and all 2,700 miles will be fully walkable by the end of 2024.
£2 billion in walking and cycling has been invested over this Parliament, building hundreds of miles of high-quality cycle lanes increasing access to a range of places including green spaces across Sussex.
The Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy includes a commitment to increase opportunities for all children and young people to spend time in nature, learn more about it and get involved in improving their environment.
We have also worked to increase access through developing the £9 million Levelling Up Parks Fund to create parks and green spaces on urban land which has become unused, un-developed or neglected. The Green Infrastructure Framework aims to help local authorities and developers incorporate green infrastructure into development plans to improve access to nature on our doorsteps and build resilience to climate change.
Finally, we have started on an improvement to the way in which rights of way are recorded by implementing a package of reforms to reduce bureaucracy and speed up the process for new rights of way to be added to the legal record for everyone to enjoy. Local highway authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of existing public rights of way and are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan to plan improvements to the rights of way network in their area. This must include an assessment of the local rights of way including the condition of the network.
If elected as the MP for the East Grinstead & Uckfield constituent, I will continue to support the principle of Access to Nature for constituents.
