Local Access Forums
John Laidler considers Local Access Forums and The Countryside And Rights Of Way Act 2000.
Two closely-related issues are relevant: first, the designation of specified areas of countryside as National Parks and second, the right of the public to have access to the countryside.
The move to create a series of National Parks culminated in the publication in 1945 of an influential report by John Dower, an architect and civil servant (who had strong Northumbrian connections). This set out what national parks should be like. Subsequently, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 established the system of National Parks. Today there are 14 Parks in Britain designated for the purposes of preserving and enhancing their natural beauty and promoting their enjoyment by the public.
In 1884 a bill that aimed to give the public access to the countryside was presented to Parliament. Although unsuccessful, it can be said to represent the real beginning of a struggle by various parties, including the Ramblers’ Association, to allow free access to open countryside by the public. The mass trespass on April 24th 1932 on Kinder Scout, the Derbyshire peak, is perhaps the best known ‘battle’ in the campaign to gain this right. Tom Stephenson, the Ramblers’ Association’s first full-time secretary was a well-known campaigner for walkers’ rights. In the 1930s he had suggested the concept of a long-distance Pennine walk; this eventually came to fruition in 1965 with the inauguration of the Pennine Way, England’s first official long-distance footpath.
Almost seventy years after the Kinder Scout affair, a general right of access to ‘access land’ was granted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW).
The Act has often been referred to as the ‘right to roam’ act – a name which has a pleasing ring to it for some but which has been used pejoratively by others. However, it is not intended to go over old ground; instead, it can be pointed out that the Act aims to “extend the public’s ability to enjoy the countryside whilst also providing safeguards for landowners and occupiers”. Aspects of CROW have been set out in two issues of CITY AND COUNTY: Angus Lunn (August 2001), Trevor Hardy (August 2005)
As well as provisions relating to the right to roam, wildlife conservation and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Act requires inter alia that definitive maps be prepared, that each local highway authority publishes (by November 2007) a Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP), and that Local Access Forums be set up.
A Local Access Forum (LAF) is an independent body established by the ‘appointing authority’. This is the local highway authority or, for its designated area, a national park authority.
The main function of an LAF is to advise its appointing authority “as to the improvement of public access to land in that area for the purposes of open-air recreation and the enjoyment of the area”. In providing advice the LAF must have regard to the needs of land management, the desirability of conserving the natural beauty of the area, including the flora, fauna and geological and physiographical features as well as guidance given from time to time by the Secretary of State.
CROW includes regulations as to the membership and proceedings of LAFs. There must be no fewer than 10 and no more than 20 members. Members act in a voluntary capacity. There should be a reasonable balance between the numbers of members representing differing interests, i.e. users of access land, owners and occupiers of land and any other parties with interests relevant to the authority’s area. Two or more appointing authorities may establish a Joint Local Access Forum (JLAF) and there is to be cross boundary liaison between neighbouring forums to ensure that issues of common concern are considered in a consistent way.
There are 81 LAFs in England, of which five are in the northeast region, including two JLAFs which cover the Society’s area: Northumberland National Park & Countryside JLAF and Tyne and Wear JLAF.
Tyne and Wear JLAF may be taken as an illustration of how a forum operates. There are 20 members, with representation from users, (presently walkers, cyclists and equestrian interests) and landowners. The Forum meets four or five times a year. As well as Forum members, rights of way and other appropriate local authority officers attend each meeting. Designated councillors from the five Tyne and Wear local authorities may attend and the meetings are open to the public.
Forum business has included site visits (to broaden its understanding and experience of issues affecting the whole of Tyne and Wear), training sessions for new members, presentations on specific issues (a recent example was ‘River Access in England’), the production and distribution of an access map, identification of ‘missing links’ within the right of way network and consultation on the Tyne and Wear Rights of Way Improvement Plan.
The writer sits on the Forum as a leader of walking groups and as the representative of the Northumberland and Newcastle Society.
City and County
February 2007
