Ramblers Call On Gordon Brown To Make Coastal Access His First Gift To The Nation
18/06/2007
The Ramblers' Association (RA), the national walking charity, is urging the new leader of the Labour Party to make coastal access his first gift to the nation, on the eve of the launch of a public consultation on access to the English coast (18 June 2007). Mr Brown is due to take over as Prime Minister on June 27.
Natural England - the governmental advisory body on biodiversity, recreation and wildlife - presented wide-ranging recommendations to the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in February. It's now over to the public to have their say on the type of access they want to have to the coast. An ICM poll commissioned by the RA found that over 94% of the public said they wanted a legal right of access to the coast.
At the heart of Natural England's recommendations is a coastal corridor that will enable the public to walk all the way around the coast, an impossible feat at present. Currently access to the coast is patchy at best and many walking routes are unnecessarily diverted inland.
The national walking charity is pleased that the government has launched a consultation and recognises the importance of improving access to the coast for this and future generations.
David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who launches the consultation at The National Trust's White Cliffs of Dover visitor centre, in Dover tomorrow is quoted as saying: "England's coastline is a national treasure. It should be the birthright of every citizen. Many parts of the coast are already accessible but some are not. We want to create an access corridor so that people can walk the entire length of the coast."
The RA is calling for measures to protect wildlife, privacy and enhance landscapes and biodiversity. New grant schemes should improve management of coastal land and increase the benefits for wildlife, landowners and the public.
Kate Ashbrook, chairman of the RA, said: "We are an island nation yet access to the coast is poor in many places. There is no right to walk on the foreshore between mean and high tide, so even a child building a sandcastle may technically be trespassing."
She added: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to change dramatically the type of access we have to the coast. It is currently impossible to walk from one end of the coast to the other. The public finally have an opportunity to change that."