The Assembly Government has a policy objective to increase the public’s statutory rights of access to the countryside and to increase their responsible use of those rights. However, the report says good practice needs to be shared more widely to encourage increased public use of the countryside. It also points to some constraints that need to be overcome, particularly in raising the profile of countryside access issues and improving the condition of the rights of way network. Lessons learned from implementing CROW should help to inform plans for the proposed improvement of access to the coast

CROW has increased the amount of land to which the public has a legal right of access to 21 per cent of the land surface of Wales. While the Act’s provisions are being phased in, the new public right of access was implemented across Wales on 28 May 2005. The process involved a wide range of public sector organisations working together - including the Assembly Government, the Countryside Council for Wales, all 22 local authorities, the three National Parks and the Forestry Commission Wales – and with landowners, the vast majority of whom cooperated with the implementation process.

The report identifies examples of good practice. These include the introduction of high quality information, such as colour coded walk maps; using the education service to promote responsible countryside access to children; involving Town and Community Councils, volunteers and the Probation Service in improving rights of way and countryside facilities; some initiatives to encourage groups at risk of social exclusion to use the countryside; and projects linking countryside access with health promotion.

However, despite these examples, the report concludes that good practice is not being disseminated effectively. In response to this, the Wales Audit Office has developed and placed on its website (www.wao.gov.uk) a self-assessment checklist to help local access authorities compare their current position with identified good practice. 
The report identifies other constraints to increasing the public’s use of the countryside. These include the lower priority which many local authorities give to countryside access, poor condition of footpaths, insufficient attention to the needs of groups at risk of social exclusion, a lack of adequate public transport to and within rural areas, and the reluctance of a small minority of landowners to cooperate

A number of recommendations are made to further the Welsh Assembly Government’s policy. These include:

• The Welsh Assembly Government should encourage local authorities to increase the priority which they give countryside access;
• The Countryside Council for Wales should work with local authorities in developing pilots for improved access to the coast;
• Local access authorities should identify and implement measures to encourage greater use of the countryside by groups at risk of social exclusion;
• Local access authorities should examine ways of improving the condition of their rights of way networks.

Auditor General for Wales, Jeremy Colman said today:
“People have been able to access new CROW land on time, and as planned, thanks to Welsh public services working effectively together and with landowners.  The lessons learned in implementing CROW, and the take up of my recommendations, will help to inform plans for the proposed improvement of access to the coast.”
 
Notes to Editors:

• This report examines whether Wales is making good progress towards the Assembly Government’s objective of increasing the public’s statutory rights of access to the countryside and to increase their responsible use of those rights.

• The Welsh Assembly Government believes that countryside access plays a key role in rural regeneration, with significant health, recreation, economic and social benefits flowing from public use of the countryside. The value of walking tourism in Wales is also estimated at £550 million a year. 

• The report refers to Local Authorities and the National Parks collectively as Local Access Authorities.

• The Wales Audit Office is independent of government and is responsible for the annual audit of some £19 billion of annual public expenditure.

• Its mission is to promote improvement, so that people in Wales benefit from accountable, well-managed public services that offer the best possible value for money. It is also committed to identify and spreading good practice across the Welsh public sector.

• The Wales Audit Office was created in April 2005 through the Public Audit (Wales) Act, 2004, which expanded the functions of the Auditor General for Wales and enabled the transfer of staffs from the Audit Commission in Wales and National Audit Office in Wales to his employment.

For more information please contact Rachel Harries on 02920 262 675 or email rachel.harries@wao.gov.uk