Increasing access to woodlands

 

ADVICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE FORESTRY COMMISSIONERS

Recommendations

1. The Forestry Commissioners recommend that the Government should introduce a strategic programme of measures to increase access to public and private woodlands. These measures would include:

2. The Commissioners recommend that the Government should take account of the opportunities available to provide better links between woodlands and other land types, and the targeted use of other measures such as the creation of new rights of way.

3. The Commissioners also recommend that the new National and Local Access Forums could have a role to play in helping to identify the priorities for increasing access to woodlands at the national and local levels. Additionally, the proposed National Access Register and the planned Access Codes should be extended to include woodlands.

Background

4. In March this year the Government published its Framework for Action on Access to the Countryside in England and Wales. The Framework document stated that the Government planned to introduce a new statutory right of access on foot for open-air recreation to mountain, moor, heath and down, and to registered common land. The Government asked the Forestry Commission to report on access to woodlands so that it could consider the case for extending access to these areas. The Countryside Agency and the Countryside Council for Wales were also asked to report on access to other types of open country.

Approach to the Review and Sources of Information Used

5. Throughout our review, we have worked closely with the countryside agencies, as well as English Nature and the Environment Agency, to agree the factual basis for our respective advice and to ensure consistency of approach with their reviews. With them, we have prepared a factual analysis of the current level of access provision, the institutional arrangements, the use of and demand for land for access as well as a range of practical issues relevant to increasing access. This analysis followed a common format for all land types.

6. We have drawn on a range of research to provide background information for the review. This included the following:

7. A review of the provision for woodland recreation and access in Britain by Peter Scott Planning Services (with assistance from Graham Barrow Research and Consulting and Rosalind Pearson). The work encompassed informal and formal provision for recreation, access, sport, environmental awareness and visitor services in forests and woodlands owned by public, private and voluntary organizations and individuals, including commercial and non-commercial facilities and services.

8. We commissioned a study from the Future Foundation on "Forestry Futures: Drivers for Change in Forest Recreation". This was designed to:

9. The Centre for Environmental Change reported to the Forestry Commission on "Woodland Sensibilities: Recreational Uses of Woods and Forests in Contemporary Britain". This study looked at the ways in which public attitudes and sensibilities of the recreational use of woodlands are now developing in the context of broader understandings of social, cultural and environmental issues in contemporary Britain.

10. We also organised a series of seminars in July 1999 to examine some of the practical issues associated with increasing access to woodlands and improving the information about access opportunities. About 200 people attended the seminars representing the range of forestry, environmental and countryside interests. A report on the seminars was published in August 1999.

Current Access to Woodlands

11. Access to woodlands is very popular. The 1998 UK Day Visits Survey showed that over 330 million day visits were made to woodlands in England and Wales. This compares with about 170 million visits to the coast or about 180 million day visits to canals and rivers. Day visits to woods have increased by 17% between 1994 and 1998. Walking is the most popular activity, but other recreational activities such as picnicking, cycling, horse riding, bird watching and orienteering are also very popular.

12. Woodlands are owned by a variety of public, private and voluntary bodies. The Government, through the Forestry Commission, with an estate of nearly 350,000 hectares in England and Wales is by far the largest owner of woodlands. The Commission is also the single largest provider of countryside access and recreation. The Forestry Commission's woodlands therefore provide the most extensive resource available for public access in the ownership of a single organisation. Its policy is to allow access to all its woods on a permissive basis, provided there are no legal or management constraints. Through this estate the Government is therefore able to take direct action to provide greater access to woodlands than for any other type of land.

13. The present distribution of woodlands is such that there is an imbalance between the location of most woodland and the centres of population. In general terms, the demand for informal access to woodlands on foot and for dog walking close to urban areas is currently poorly provided for. This contrasts with the use of rural and upland forests for recreation, which is relatively well provided for through the Forestry Commission's estate.

14. Apart from access to woodlands which is available through existing public rights of way, access is supported through the Forestry Commission's Woodland Grant Scheme, and through some of the tax exemption arrangements. Access supported through conditions made under the Woodland Grant Scheme is only available for the duration of the contract governing the payment of grants, which is normally between five and ten years. Access is also provided on a permissive basis, for example by organisations such as the National Trust and the Woodland Trust and by some private woodland owners.

15. In the light of this, the Commissioners have concluded that there is a strong case for improving the extent and security of access to woodland.

Options for Increasing Access to Woodlands

16. Through our review, we identified three broad approaches that could be used to increase access to woodlands: statutory, voluntary, and direct intervention on the Forestry Commission 's national forest estate.

Statutory

17. A statutory approach would require primary legislation and would create statutory rights over all woodland. This would deliver access to very considerable areas of woodland. Woodlands would however have to be mapped to enable users to understand which woodland was open for access. Currently, there is no definitive map record for small woods (less than 2 hectares). Guidance, for example in the form of codes, would also be needed to enable users to recognise and avoid excepted or excluded land.

18. A statutory approach would be a relatively "blunt" instrument as much of the woodland newly available for access would be in locations where there is little or no demand for extra access. It would impose a new burden on landowners. As many woodlands occur as "island" sites it would be necessary to introduce a mechanism for assuring means of access across adjacent land, where it is not already being considered for access.

19. The statutory approach could also be applied selectively using a range of methods. For example, a statutory right might be applied to woodlands of key importance due to their location in an area of high demand or currently poor provision, or in areas where regular public use has been established without a clear legal right of access being established. Selection criteria could also be applied to woodlands of a certain type, or over a certain size, and could be area based or lineal (e.g. to rides and tracks). The selection of woodland for such statutory access would be controversial. It would be viewed as discriminatory by landowners, who might seek compensation.

20. Under the present arrangements, the public may already enter Forestry Commission land by permission and enjoy the status of "lawful visitor" for the purposes of occupiers liability if they have an accident. This presumes that any new legislation would not impose an additional burden on the Forestry Commission to make the land safe or remove the existing right to give warnings or advice or, in extreme cases, to fence off areas for reasons of safety.

21. Applying a statutory approach to the Forestry Commission's estate would not, of course, increase the overall area available for access. It could, however, result in a reduction in availability of access, notably where access occurs on leasehold land where there is currently no legal power to provide it, but where such access is tolerated by the landlord. A statutory approach would, however, provide security of access, at least for the time that the Commission held the land. Preliminary legal advice suggests that in the event of a sale of the land, it would be possible for legislation to bind the purchaser into continuing to provide access.

22. Though a statutory approach would provide new access to large areas of woodland, there would be considerable practical difficulties in including woodlands in the proposed new access legislation.

23. On balance, therefore, we recommend that the proposed access legislation is not extended to woodlands.

24. Local authorities already have powers available to them to make orders for creating new public rights of way. There is potential to use these powers strategically to ensure that access opportunities to woodlands can be related to those in the wider countryside. The current review of Rights of Way procedures by the Government provides an opportunity to enhance the effectiveness of these powers.

25. We recommend that the Government should take account of the opportunities available to provide better links between woodlands and other land types and the targeted use of other measures such as the creation of new rights of way.

Voluntary

26. Most of the current access to woodlands takes place under 'voluntary' arrangements. Incentives for forestry have historically been based on fixed rate grants, structured to reflect the multi-purpose nature of the Government's forestry policies for the creation and management of woodlands. Traditionally these grants have been applied in a relatively untargeted and non-discretionary manner. These incentives provide public access to woodlands on a temporary basis; usually for five or ten years, depending on the length of the Woodland Grant Scheme contract. In recent years geographically targeted and discretionary grants have been introduced as part of the overall Woodland Grant Scheme package. With the publication of the Forestry Strategy for England in 1998, the Government has said that it intends to continue to increase the emphasis on targeted and discretionary grants to deliver its forestry policy aims.

27. It would be possible to introduce conditions requiring public access to be provided in all schemes receiving Government funding for woodland creation and management. This would, however, result in a substantial decline in the overall areas of new planting and management. This reflects the relatively low incentive levels that are currently available for woodland creation and management.

28. Grant aid for providing public access to woodlands could be strengthened through a tiered approach to reflect differing levels of public benefit: schemes which delivered the highest benefits would attract the highest levels of grant. This would help to maximise the effectiveness of any new incentives. Incentives would be targeted to favour priority areas where there is a demand for access but a shortage of provision. In these areas, the provision of access would be the highest priority and would be the determining factor in decisions about awarding grant aid. The availability of resources (funding) to support a new package of grants to deliver greater access to woodlands would determine the extent of new access created.

29. We recommend that a package of new incentives is introduced to encourage landowners to provide access to woodlands. These should be targeted to favour priority areas where there is demand for access but a shortage.

30. Although landowners are able to negotiate access agreements with local authorities there is currently no mechanism that enables landowners to voluntarily create ("dedicate") long-term access to their land. One new approach would be to create a new legal vehicle to allow any owner to dedicate a right of access over an area of land. This would require primary legislation. This could be used to secure access to the Forestry Commission's estate (and other Government owned land). It would also be available to other landowners who want to create secure, voluntary dedication of access to their land. In practice, such a mechanism is likely to appeal more to public and charitable bodies than to private landowners. However, if dedication was linked to other existing measures such as Inheritance Tax Relief or Capital Transfer Tax mitigation it could prove an attractive package to some of the private sector. The details of such a mechanism, including arrangements for releasing areas from dedication, would have to be worked up.

31. A drawback of the incentive based, approach is that the conditions for grant aid, including any related to access, apply only for the duration of the contract governing the payment of grants. Under the present arrangements this is usually between five to ten years. There would be scope to link the provision of incentives (for example, above a pre-determined level) to a requirement to enter into dedication, in order to achieve greater permanency of access.

32. We recommend that a new power of dedication is introduced to enable landowners to grant access rights to their woodlands.

The National Forest Estate

33. The Government, through the Forestry Commission, is the largest single owner of woodlands in England and Wales. This is a unique situation that does not occur with the other land types being considered in the Government's review. There is considerable scope for the Government to achieve many of its access aims through delivery on its own estate. This could be achieved both through acquisition of land by the Forestry Commission to secure access and through enhancement of access opportunities on the existing national forest estate.

34. Acquisition would involve buying bare ground on which to create new woodlands or long-leasing existing woodlands in priority areas. On a national scale, delivery through acquisition by the Forestry Commission would help to ensure that quality and certainty of access was provided. Strategic priorities could be identified to target purchase in areas of high demand and current low supply. The option could provide access to existing woodlands that have been identified as of great strategic importance but to which access cannot be negotiated. Such woodlands would need to be of proven importance to justify their purchase.

35. There is also considerable potential to enhance access and recreation on the Commission's existing estate. There are a spectrum of opportunities ranging from the provision of simple infrastructure such as gates, stiles and signs in woods within walking distance of people's homes. There is also scope to develop facilities such as car parks, toilets, waymarked routes and interpretative information in the Forestry Commission's network of Woodland Parks and other woodlands more distant from people's homes. Experience has shown that the provision of an appropriate infrastructure, together with information about what is available, are key factors in increasing usage. This approach could be integrated with the improvement of access to other types of land and with the existing rights of way network.

36. On the Forestry Commission's estate we recommend:

37. The dedication instrument discussed above would also be an attractive option for securing access to the Forestry Commission's estate. It would not, of itself, deliver more access (as the public already have permissive rights) but, in conjunction with a package of acquisition and enhancement of access opportunities on the national forest estate, it would provide long-term security of access compared with the present arrangements. Preliminary legal advice suggests that the dedication option may achieve greater security of access than would be achieved through a statutory approach as discussed above. Use of the dedication instrument could also be applied to woodlands owned by other Government Departments and agencies.

38. We therefore recommend that the proposed new power of dedication should be applied to the woodlands managed by the Forestry Commission.

Other Issues

39. In preparing our advice, we have taken a strategic approach to increasing access to woodlands. This provides the basis for a programme of measures to encourage landowners to grant new permanent rights of access over their own land and to provide access to woodlands in areas where there is high demand. Although our work has examined opportunities for increasing access to woodlands, we believe that they should be considered alongside the opportunities for other land types. In its Framework for Action, the Government asked the Countryside Agency to establish a National Access Forum and also stated the intention to set up Local Access Forums.

40. We recommend that the new National and Local Access Forums could have a role to play in helping to identify the priorities for increasing access to woodlands at the national and local levels.

Information on Access Opportunities

41. Although our advice has focussed on opportunities for and approaches to increasing the area of woodlands open for access, it is clear that there is also considerable potential to improve the range, quality and availability of information about woodlands that are open for access. Achieving this was one of the priorities established in the Government's Forestry Strategy for England which was published last year. The Commission is already working in partnership with other organisations to improve the information available on access opportunities in woodlands. We believe that there is scope to develop a more consistent approach across different land types, perhaps through the proposed National Access Register. The use of new technologies such as the Internet can make the information more widely available than hitherto and can help to keep it up to date.

42. In its Framework document, the Government has said that it wants to see the development of codes of practice for land managers and walkers and other recreational interests setting out their rights and responsibilities. Information in these proposed codes should also be made relevant to woodlands.

43. We recommend that the proposed National Access Register and the planned Access Codes should be extended to include woodlands.

Forestry Commission

October 1999