Coastal Access

I am delighted that the government is planning to provide public access to all the coastline around England as part of its proposed Marine and Coastal Access Bill due to be part of the new legislative programme for the new parliamentary session. The proposal is that the new bill will:  ‘secure a long-distance route around the coast of England including beaches, cliffs, rocks and dunes, with public access for coastal access and other recreational activities.’
It is nearly 10 years since my Right To Roam bill was passed into law, and what an impact it has had on huge areas of the country, opening up previously ‘closed’ land to public access. Here in Lancashire the wild, wind-swept Bowland Fells have been enjoyed by thousands of walkers and others who previously had no access to these shooting moors belonging to the ‘landed gentry’.
The proposed changes to the law that are included in the new bill are partly as a result of the campaign lead by the Ramblers’ Association (RA), to gain public access to the coast around the country. I am particularly honoured to have been asked by the North East Lancashire Area of the RA to be their Honorary President for the next 3 years starting in February 2009.
Here is a photo of me with the Secretary of the RA NE Lancs Area (Sue Baxendale) and the Secretary of the Burnley & Pendle Group (Janet Lofthouse).

Details from the Draft Legislative Programme for the
Marine and coastal access bill

The purpose of the Bill is to: improve and simplify arrangements for
managing marine development and protecting the marine environment and biodiversity, including a new planning system for the marine area, and provide greater recreational access to the English coast.

The main elements of the Bill are:
•  Secure a long-distance route around the coast of England including beaches, cliffs, rocks and dunes, with public access for coastal walking and other recreational activities;
•  Establish a Marine Management Organisation for the waters around England and the UK offshore area;
•  Introduce a new marine planning system, with long-term objectives for the marine area around the UK, and subsequently the creation of more detailed local marine plans;
•  Streamline the law on licensing marine development so that, as far as possible, only one licence is needed for each development;
•  Provide powers to designate marine conservation zones and to protect those zones from damaging activities;
•  Strengthen and modernise the licensing and management of marine, migratory, freshwater and shellfish fisheries, including creating new Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities and introducing a scheme to manage live fish movement;
•  Streamline and modernise enforcement powers for fisheries and nature conservation, providing a civil sanctions scheme for licensing and nature conservation offences and an administrative penalty scheme for domestic fisheries offences.

The main benefits of the Bill are:
•  Greater recreational opportunities from increased public access to the English coast, with the economic benefits of recreation and tourism this will bring, particularly for small businesses;
•  Greater confidence and economic benefits for marine developers through simplification of the legislative framework and faster planning decisions with greater transparency and less uncertainty, and a reduction in administrative burdens by reducing the number of bodies that business needs to deal with;
•  Improved ability to take quick, tough action to protect marine species and habitats, strengthened fisheries and environmental management arrangements to allow more effective action to conserve ecosystems, and the tools we need to meet our international marine conservation obligations;
•  More efficient use of marine resources, taking account of current usage and potential future demand, with better opportunities for all stakeholders to help shape the way in which our seas are managed;
•  More effective delivery, regulation and enforcement in the marine area by bringing together functions in the Marine Management Organisation;
•  Flexible, proportionate and targeted marine licensing provisions will ensure that activities with little or no adverse impact on the environment, marine heritage or other legitimate uses of the sea do not attract the regulatory burden of the full licensing process.