Improvement Plan Summary

Leicestershire has a wonderful network of Public Rights of Way. The 3024 kilometres (1878 miles) of footpaths, bridleways and byways offer the best way to explore and enjoy the countryside. The paths also provide local routes that link communities and give access to schools, shops, work places and other facilities for many.

To put this into some sort of perspective, this is the equivalent of managing a path that extends from Leicester to well beyond Moscow. All of these routes need to be managed.

Sometimes we take things for granted and never miss them until they have gone. The closure of paths and sites in the county during the Foot and Mouth crisis reminded us of how important walking, riding and outdoor recreation is in our lives. For many months the entire network was closed. It has been estimated that the national loss to the food and farming industries was about £3 billion. The majority of this figure was offset by government grants. The cost to other sectors of the rural economy, including tourism and local recreation was also in the region of £3 billion. Losses from recreational activities in Leicestershire may have amounted to £30 million.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 has placed a new duty on the County Council to produce a Rights Of Way Improvement Plan. It is required to consider at least, the following:

The plan offers an opportunity to stand back and consider how best to deliver the Rights of Way service. It is also seeking to attract funding from a number of other agencies, including central and regional government. These include funding through the Local Transport Plan and involvement in the Local Area Agreement process.

The County Council has a number of statutory roles they include:

In researching the plan the authority has considered national, regional and local research. This includes local surveys, exemplar projects set up by the Countryside Agency and a raft of national studies. All of these have underlined the importance of walking and riding in people’s everyday lives. Some of the key findings include:

At the heart of the proposals set out in the document, is the desire to provide improved opportunities for walking and riding. Much needs to be done to arrest the current falls in walking and riding. Society is increasingly dependent on the car and we live ever more sedentary lifestyles. Often those groups in society that would benefit most from more active lifestyles, are those least likely to undertake exercise.

Both local and national studies show that walking and riding remain extremely popular. The challenge is to involve a wider section of society and make walking and riding part of our everyday lives. Access should be for all, and to be so it needs to compete with the car for utilitarian journeys and a host of other activities for recreational time. It needs to be available near to everyone’s home, be fun, attractive and free from physical and mental barriers.

The Countryside Agency has co-ordinated government support and evaluation of the Improvement Plan process. The Commission congratulated the County Council on the Draft document and described it as ‘thorough, well researched and very well written’  The links between access, health and socio economic issues were described as areas of good practice.

The Chief Medical Officer has reported on a series of studies on links between physical activity and health. That message could not be stronger. Walking contributes to well being, is essential for good health and physically active people reduce the chance of heart disease by 50%. You only need to be active for 30 minutes, five times a week to significantly improve your health. More than 9 out of ten people in the county live within 500 metres of a footpath or bridleway.

The plan is also being co-ordinated with our proposals contained in the Local Transport Plan. The draft Rights Of Way Improvement Plan was published in conjunction with the Second Local Transport Plan earlier this year.

The County Council is proposing to focus new improvements and promote use near to where people live. We will continue to maintain the quality of the network as a whole, but key improvements will be focused in areas that maximise benefit. The vast majority of the population live in or near to urban areas. Nearly half of the Rights of Way network, falls in these areas. We are currently developing schemes that include improvements, maintenance and promotion to local path networks that are intended to:

The proposals are intended to be further developed in direct consultation with those communities affected and in conjunction with the Leicestershire Local Access Forum. They will be monitored and the results reported on with regular reviews. I would like to thank the efforts of the Leicestershire Local Access Forum. The Improvement Plan been developed in close consultation with the group. The forum is a statutory group that provides advice to the County Council and other bodies, on the improvement of public access for the purposes of open-air recreation and the enjoyment in Leicestershire.

The path improvements, comes at a time when the County Council in conjunction with its partners is developing a substantial Physical Activity project under the Leicestershire Local Area Agreement. This aims to increase the percentage of adults taking regular exercise, including walking.

Other areas of the plan also seek to broaden access. A series of proposed policies seek to encourage developers to encourage walking and riding from the doorstep. This includes within new developments and links to surrounding areas and public services

The draft Improvement Plan was distributed to all District and Parish Councils in the County.  The views of surrounding Highway authorities and other interested parties and groups were also sought. In total 134 written responses were received to the document:

68 contained specific support

34 were general acknowledgments

4 contained concerns to elements in the plan

28 listed local requests for specific path improvements

The main focus of comments related to users and their needs and the issue of crops and vegetation. It has not been necessary to make many changes apart from dealing with any concerns expressed. This includes addressing comments from Members of Scrutiny Committee. The local requests for path improvements will be integrated with the proposed improvement and maintenance programme set out in the document.