I would like to assure you that the Government is committed to promoting recreation in the countryside and I understand the benefits outdoor activities can produce both physically and mentally. Our countryside is of great importance and it cannot be overstated just how much the scenery means to people. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out the ambition to connect more people from all backgrounds with the natural environment for their health and wellbeing and the commitment to supporting people to access and enjoy outdoor spaces.
I am aware of the High Court ruling on the right to wild camp in Dartmoor National Park earlier in January this year. I understand that an agreement between the Dartmoor National Park Authority and landowners has been reached which will allow people to wild camp on most of Dartmoor without permission. Under this agreement, landowners will permit the Dartmoor National Park Authority to allow the public to wild camp through a permissive agreement. This new system will provide clear guidance on what constitutes responsible wild camping, as you reference in your letter, based on the principle of ‘leave no trace’.
The Bill, which seeks to amend the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, recently had its Second Reading in Parliament. While I will continue to follow this issue and the Bill’s progress, I am assured that the Government is already taking steps to promote access to the countryside, not least through the Countryside Stewardship scheme’s Higher Tier and Mid Tier. The scheme funds land managers for both the instalment of capital items to promote access, such as gates and stiles, as well as providing educational visits which offer school pupils and care farming clients the opportunity to visit farms to learn, understand and engage with farming and the environment. Ministers have also introduced a new woodland supplement, ‘Access for people’, which aims to create alternative outdoor activities, encourage engagement with nature and create further educational opportunities.
Furthermore, the Government has been working to increase access to the countryside through developing the £9 million Levelling Up Parks Fund to create parks and green spaces on urban land which has become unused, undeveloped or neglected. Ministers are also investing £2 billion in walking and cycling over this Parliament, building hundreds of miles of high-quality cycle lanes increasing access to a range of places including green spaces.
In addition, the launch of 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.
As an example of the work being done to improve access to the countryside, £27.8 million has been invested into the England Coast Path, which will be the longest waymarked and maintained coastal walking route in the world, linking up the best existing coastal paths and creating new ones where there were none before.
Our countryside is of great importance and I fully appreciate the benefits of outdoor activities, both physically and mentally. England has a fantastic network of footpaths over many areas of wild, open countryside such as our own Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty here in West Berkshire.
