In most cases, being placed in bronze position is reasonably satisfying, but not if you’re a footpath in Cornwall. Like many other highway authorities in England and Wales, Cornwall County Council has prioritised its rights of way, allocating resources and response times accordingly. Promoted national and regional routes and links to so-called
‘well-visited tourist attractions’ are designated gold. Next down are the silver routes, described as paths providing ‘important access’ or ‘connecting to public transport nodes’. And then there’s bronze, which in plain terms are all the rights of way at the bottom of the pile that are supposedly destined for ‘long-term action’.

Duncan Thurnell-Read, Cornwall Ramblers’ area footpath secretary, says that bronze routes have in effect been written off – and silvers don’t fare much better. “Our campaign is to make sure that all routes are brought up to scratch, not just the gold ones, which were in fact already open in the first place. The bronze routes are almost all totally obstructed and unusable and it’s clear that is how the County Council will let them stay. Classification has simply been a quick, public fix, but it hasn’t worked.”

Cuts by the back door
Cornwall’s priority system for rights of way reflects a wider trend that has crept in over the last decade. The Ramblers broadly agrees that prioritisation as a means of managing the network has a practical function, but the problems centre on how this is achieved. What is unacceptable is consigning some paths to the scrapheap for maintenance and improvement just because they’re judged unimportant. Evidence also suggests that a significant number of routes have been wrongly categorised (invariably downwards) and some authorities are slow to correct their status when that’s pointed out. In short, it seems some of the priority systems in operation are failing.

“Our fear is that it will lead to a rationalisation of footpaths by the back door reminiscent of Dr Beeching’s railway cutbacks in the 1960s,” says Adrian Morris, Head of Walking Environment at the Ramblers. “Parishes that once had extensive networks of usable paths will see that network dwindle as scarce resources are concentrated on a small number of priority paths.”

There is also the worry that some unscrupulous landowners will take advantage of the situation to erect barriers, knowing that little or nothing will be done on certain routes. Funding is, of course, at the heart of the matter. The present economic conditions mean that local authority budgets are once more under strain and inevitably rights of way work – never a top priority for most politicians – will be in line for further cutbacks. The Ramblers accepts that the recession will lead to financial belt-tightening in the public sector and fears that a double whammy of failing priority systems and budget cuts is likely to spell serious trouble for the footpath network.

Frustrated volunteers
In light of all this, the work the Ramblers does to protect our paths is likely to become ever more important. Yet perversely, some volunteers are actually being hampered in their efforts by local authority cuts and reorganisation. For instance, Mendip Ramblers’ long-established team of footpath workers has had to cease its weekly repairs after Somerset County Council decided instead to roll out its own volunteer scheme.

“We’re angry and frustrated,” says organiser Bob Berry, who in 2008 was awarded an MBE for voluntary services to footpath access in the Mendips. “All we want to do is continue to help keep local rights of way open and usable.” Ramblers are frustrated, too, by Rights of Way Improvement Plans (ROWIPs), which promised so much but have delivered so little. Although highway authorities have a legal duty to prepare these comprehensive assessments of their networks, there’s no obligation to implement them nor find any extra funds to make the necessary improvements.

Fearing that ROWIPs might become little more than wish lists, the Ramblers is mounting a campaign called ‘From Paper, to People and Places’, bringing together concerned local authorities and other recreation bodies to lobby for better funding for ROWIPs. It urges politicians not to spend more on road schemes and car travel, but to take a wider view and realise that an open and usable rights of way network benefits local economies and public health.

Marilyn Meeks, from the Institute of Public Rights of Way and Access Management, which represents highway authority workers, says they do take ROWIPs seriously and the consultation process behind them means that they will ultimately deliver what the public actually wants. “We would like English authorities to follow the example of the Welsh Assembly, which has allocated a pot of money for their implementation, ” she says. “But these are tough financial times and we have to be shrewder in identifying other ways and sources of funding, such as integrating them into Local Transport Plans, so that they deliver real improvements where it matters.”

Our rights of way network will need more than just shrewd funding to survive these tough times: it will need an emboldened Ramblers to defend it, which is why it launched a public appeal at the beginning of this year. “Please back our new Beeching appeal, ” implores Adrian, “so we can continue to make a real difference on the ground, supporting the work of hard-pressed local authorities and making sure that every path – whatever its status – is open for all to enjoy.”

To donate to the Ramblers Beeching appeal, ✆ 020 7339 8500 or visit www.ramblers.org.uk/donate. Your donations will help:
• Make this a serious issue in the forthcoming General Election
• Provide support to Ramblers Areas and Groups fighting budget cuts
• Work with partners in addressing the failing prioritisation systems
• Step up our work to take action where local authorities are unable, sending out a clear message that our rights of way will be defended