The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 Part I grants a statutory right to walk on land designated as open country and registered common land (‘access land’). This will eventually open up some 1.1 million hectares of countryside for people’s enjoyment in England and Wales.
This research considers what infrastructure and management tools would be necessary to facilitate the new statutory right of access on foot to encourage wider voluntary improvements. It then examines the way national grant schemes and other incentives currently operate in England and Wales, and whether or not they could help to meet these requirements.