North Staffs Green Party have joined campaign group
Right to Roam [1]in calling for it to be made easier for people to access the
countryside.
The group campaigns for an extension to the Right to
Roam established under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000).
In a statement on their website Right to Roam say ‘Ours
is a wild and a beautiful island. But the vast majority of it is unknown to us
because, by law of trespass, we are banned from setting foot on it. We are
excluded from hundreds of thousands of acres of open space - of woodland,
meadows, rivers and their banks - simply because ancient laws of ownership fail
to recognise the importance of nature to the public’.
Currently
the right to roam makes accessible only 8% of the UK countryside, with
landowners and some government departments, including DEFRA, being opposed to
any extension.
HM
Treasury have set up a review led by Lord Agnew, minister of state at the
Cabinet Office and the Treasury, into access to nature.
A
spokesperson said, “being able to access the countryside is hugely beneficial
for our physical and mental health, sadly outdated laws make doing so difficult
for too many people”.
Adding
“We support Right to Roam in their campaign to make it easier to get out and
enjoy nature responsibly”.
The
importance of connecting with nature to physical health and mental wellbeing
was highlighted a coalition of charities led by the Ramblers Association, who
wrote to the Prime Minister in September.
They
warned that vital opportunities are being missed by not including access to
nature and the countryside in key legislation currently going through
parliament including the Environment Bill. At present, they said, it is ‘at the
bottom of the pile when it comes to policy decisions and spending’ [3].
The
research, published by the Ramblers Association in their report The grass
isn’t greener for everyone: why access to green space matters, uncovered
sharp disparities in access to green spaces.
Almost
everyone researchers spoke to, 78%, said green spaces were important to them,
for example as a place to walk, 65% said this had always been the case and 19%
said that green spaces in their local area had become even more important to them
since the pandemic.
Despite
this only 57% said they lived within five minutes-walk of a local green space
such as a park or canal path, this fell to 46% for people living in low-income
households [4].
Stephen
Russell, policy and advocacy officer for the Ramblers said “The pandemic really
brought home the importance of being able to enjoy the health and wellbeing
benefits of connecting with nature in the great outdoors. It’s something that
should be available to everyone, but it’s not. And it is people in some of our
most disadvantaged communities who are the least likely to have access to high
quality green spaces.”
The
Ramblers Association has launched a petition calling for improving access to
green spaces to be made a central feature of government policy [5].
A
spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, “making it easier for people to
access, engage with, and by doing so learn to value nature is part of our core
values as a party and we fully support both these campaigns”.
Right to Roam are asking
supporters to email Lord Agnew to express support for extending the right to
roam at: pslordagnew@cabinetoffice.gov.uk more information on the Right to Roam campaign
and a template letter are available from [2]
[1] https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/
[2] https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/write-to-treasury
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