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Access to the Countryside |
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Listed
below are some examples of Access to the Countryside work undertaken recently
by Asken. Other work undertaken can be found by clicking on the links below. |
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Information Handbook for LAF Members Natural England Research undertaken by CCRU (and Asken) identified the need
for LAF members to have better/easier access to information about countryside
access and recreation in order to be effective in their role. Asken was appointed by NE to consult
LAFs over the scope of material and then to develop the information,
including guidance on possible LAF roles (drawing on experience of good
practice from LAFs themselves). |
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Access/Environment Policy Review and Briefing Central Council of Physical Recreation CCPR has recently formed an Access Group and written draft
policies for access and environmental sustainability. Asken reviewed these policies and
suggested changes and other enhancements. A briefing day for officer was also organised in which a
range of possible action points for CCPR were discussed in the context of
recent changes on legislation. |
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Editing and Updating of Booklets Countryside Council for Wales Two of
CCW’s publications are now out-of-date and need to be updated. The two booklets are: -
A
Model Approach for Resolving Conflict in the Countryside -
Sport
and Challenge Events in the Countryside Asken was contracted to consult with target audiences to
determine if the need for the booklets exist and, because responses suggested
that it does, Asken updated and edited them. |
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Site Management Investigation Keoghs/Motor Insurance Bureau Asken provided an expert analysis of the nature and management
of public access to a site in Manchester. The site was the scene of an accident between two
motorcyclists, one of whom is now paralysed. Key issues were the integrity of the boundary fences, the
site’s history and the nature of the motorcycling activities undertaken on
the site. |
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Options for Improving Access to the Coast Defra Following implementation of CRoW Part I, Defra are now
examining options for providing improved access to England’s coast. Working with a team of experts in
different fields, Asken led the option evaluation process. The work provided the basis of a
Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment. |
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Evaluation of the Implementation of CRoW Pt I National Assembly for Wales Following completion of the implementation of Part I of the Countryside
and Rights of Way Act 2000, NAW were keen to understand the effectiveness of
their implementation programme.
Asken was appointed to undertake the evaluation, through a programme
of consultations and interviews with key partners and stakeholders in Wales. |
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Best of Both Worlds – Reconciling Nature Conservation and
Recreation in the Countryside Countryside Agency, Central Council of Physical Recreation,
English Nature Often, the chance to use a site for recreation is denied because
of concerns over the impacts on nature conservation. In many cases, these are ill-founded
or can be overcome by suitable planning and management. The aim of the project was to pull
together experience and good practice at reaching a mutually-acceptable
position, and to make this available to all via a website. The good practice guidance is now
available on www.bobw.co.uk, and Asken
has been retained to help maintain the site. |
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Research Into Local Access Forums Countryside Agency/University of Gloucestershire The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 imposed a duty on
all highway and national park authorities to set up Local Access Forums
(LAFs) for their areas. These
have now been set up in most areas and have been operating for several
years. However, some LAFs have
been struggling to recruit and retain members, whilst others appear to be
thriving. The research explored
what LAFs are doing and achieving and what constitutes good practice. The findings fed into revised LAF
Regulations and guidance. |
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Strategic Farm/Estate/Croft Access Planning and Management Scottish Natural Heritage Asken was commissioned to develop a tool to help land managers
prepare strategic management plans to help them deal with public access to
their land. Working with
Scottish experts, a model was developed, and then tested on three case study
farms. |
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Support for Development of Access Product Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Asken was retained to assist FWAG in developing its capability
in advising farmers on issues related to public access. This involved two training sessions
at an in-house conference and provision of supporting material for use on its
intranet website. |
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Revising Documents – Out in the Country and Managing Public
Access Countryside Council for Wales/Countryside Agency Recent access and RoW legislation has made two of CCW’s key
publications seriously out of date.
Similarly, the Countryside Agency’s version of Managing Public Access
also became very dated. Asken
revised and updated these publications, drawing on the experience of its
directors and associates to span the wide range of issues addressed. |
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Outbreaks of Fires on Open Country in Spring 2003 Countryside Agency, Countryside Council for Wales, Forestry
Commission The spring of 2003 saw an outbreak of fires on open country
around the country, some of which were very destructive. The fires provided an opportunity to
gather data that can be used to help calibrate a fire risk model and assist
in making decisions about access management in future. Asken gathered these data and
undertook a series of 15 case studies that looked in more depth. The outcome of the research assisted
these ‘relevant authorities’ in deciding how they should operate restrictions
on access land for fire risk management. |
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CROW – Obligations and Opportunities Gwynedd Council Gwynedd Council wanted to examine the implications of simply
meeting their duties under CROW or fully engaging with CROW by using the
range of new powers available as well.
Asken, working with Cynefin Consultants, assessed the cost
implications for the Council and the impacts on the wider image and economic
activity of the area. This
included surveys of exemplar authorities in England. |
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Land Management and Recreation Scottish Natural Heritage Asken, working with Peter Scott Planning Services, was
appointed by Scottish Natural Heritage to identify good practice for managing
land to which the public has access for recreation. The work involved literature search, focus groups, case
study examples and consultations with various interested parties. |
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Good Practice Data Bank Forest Enterprise Asken was
appointed by FE to advise on the development, design and creation of a
web-based Good Practice Data Bank for use by its site managers. The Data Bank brings together
guidance on good practice in managing public access and recreation at
forestry sites. |
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Organisation of Site Visit Countryside Agency/Countryside Council For Wales A joint meeting of the access forums for England and Wales
(the National Countryside Access Forum and the National Access Forum for
Wales) was held in order to provide an opportunity for access issues to be
discussed and contrasted. Asken
was appointed to organize the event, which was based around a specially
selected site on the English/Welsh border. Asken ensured that the site visit provided for a range of
technical issues. |
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Provision of Background Material for RIAs Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs/Entec DEFRA are required to undertake Regulatory Impact Assessments
(RIAs) of regulations brought forward as part of the implementation of the
Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.
Entec was appointed to provide background material on costs, benefits
and other impacts of the regulations on various sectors of society, including
small businesses. Asken acted as
sub-contractor and provided specialist advice with respect to the impacts on
countryside access users and land managers. |
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Predicting Levels of Use of Access Countryside Council for Wales/Entec Asken (working with Entec) was commissioned to extend the
coverage of a GIS-based computer model designed to predict levels of use of
open countryside by the public to include Wales. The model worked with UK Day Visit Survey and other data
to predict the ‘post-CROW’ situation. |
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Advice on Risks to Public Health and Safety on Access
Land Countryside Agency The CRoW Act requires the
Countryside Agency (in England) to provide advice on public health and
safety. Asken was commissioned
to identify and quantify risks to the public on access land, and to consider
how these risks could be mitigated.
A HAZAN was used for the former, and review of guidance (both
statutory and non-statutory) and consultation with relevant organisations
(e.g. HSE). |
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Predicting Levels
and Patterns of Recreational Use of Open Countryside |
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Practical
Ways of Managing Access |
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Public
Access and MOD Land The MOD (mainly the army) own or lease considerable areas of
land which they use for military training. Many of these training areas
are located in upland areas and are of interests to the public for a variety
of reasons - archaeology, nature conservation, amenity and recreation.
Whilst public access and military training are hard to reconcile, the MOD
wanted to find ways in which it can enhance opportunities for public access
without compromising training realism or public safety. Asken undertook
research into a number of specific training areas as part of a team reviewing
the whole access issue, especially in the light of new legislation in
England, Wales and Scotland. |
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Impact
of Public Access on Livestock Management In parallel with the new legislation to provide access to open
countryside, the Agency needed to be able to advise farmers about how they
might mitigate the impacts of public access on livestock farming. Asken
was sub-contracted by Entec to provide expertise on access and cattle (beef
and dairy) farming. Asken also co-ordinated inputs from a sheep
specialist and prepared the final report. |
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Costs
of Access to Local Authorities CRoW Act legislation places a number of duties on, and gives
powers to, local authorities to better manage access to open countryside and
use of public rights of way. Prior estimates were broad brush in
nature, so the LGA commissioned a study to investigate the impacts in more
depth. Asken undertook the bulk of the research; this including an
in-depth analysis of the Bill identifying which clauses may have impacts felt
by local authorities. Asken developed a spreadsheet for use by
authorities to capture costs in a standard form for analysis. The
results were used by the LGA in negotiations with central government for
greater funds. A briefing based on the report was referred to by their
Lordships when debating the new access legislation in Parliament. |
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Rights of Way
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Last Update 01/08 |