Almost 100 rural seats ‘have less than one hectare of right to roam land’

The Right to Roam campaign looked at Natural England maps alongside the latest constituency boundaries to pinpoint land which is accessible for the public to use under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.

The law, passed in 2000, gave people a right to roam over certain landscape types or “access land”, namely mountains, moorland, heathland, downland and commons, covering some 8% of England.

But many of these landscapes are highly fragmented, leaving some access lands stranded within a “sea” of other landscape types where the public has no legal right to walk.

Right to Roam said it excluded these “access islands” from its analysis because the public cannot reach them.

The group found that 96 rural seats have less than one hectare of right to roam land, calling these areas “access deserts”.

Wirral West, Tonbridge, Selby, Yeovil, South Cotswolds and Stratford-on-Avon were among these constituencies, according to the research.

Right to Roam campaigners called on the Labour Government to extend the public’s right of responsible access to the countryside.

They sent all MPs in the new Parliament an “access league table” on Monday, ranking each constituency by how much access land it contains.

Their analysis also suggests that 103 English constituencies have no right to roam hectares, amounting to 19% of England’s 543 constituencies.

Although these are predominantly urban seats, there have been growing calls in recent years to improve access to nature for populations in towns and cities.

It comes amid the unequal distribution of nature access across England.

Almost two thirds of allotted right to roam landscapes are concentrated within the Lake District, Peak District and Yorkshire Dales National Park, making them inaccessible to many, according to campaigners.

Meanwhile, woodlands, watersides and much grassland are not currently accessible to the public under the Act despite being more evenly spread across the country, including near to urban areas.

For years, campaigners have called for England to introduce similar rules to Scotland, where residents have a lawful right to access and camp on most land and inland waters provided they follow basic rules, such as not damaging the environment or camping on farmers’ crops.

Lewis Winks, from the Right to Roam campaign, said: “The public’s right to access nature in England is hugely unequal.

“Not only does our right to roam cover just 8% of the country – much of this is remote from where most people live: there are 103 constituencies in England with no right to roam at all.

“The best way to solve this is for England to follow Scotland’s lead, and legislate for a new right of responsible access covering the majority of land and water – with sensible exceptions for private gardens and fields with crops growing, new rules to control disturbance by dogs, and a properly promoted Outdoor Access Code.”

Mr Winks said it would be a “hugely popular” and “cost-effective” policy, citing a YouGov poll from earlier this year that suggested 69% of the British public support having a right of responsible access over the rest of the English countryside, subject to certain exemptions and rules.

He also referenced previous Right to Roam research which found Scotland’s access model costs six times less to implement than England’s has.

Mr Winks said: “We hope Labour will be bold and give the public a right of responsible access to our beautiful countryside.”

An Environment Department (Defra) spokesperson said: “We are at a crisis point – nature is dying across Britain.

“The new Government is absolutely committed to restoring and protecting nature. We will also improve access to nature, creating nine new national river walks and new national forests for families to enjoy.”