|
Land Use Consultants were commissioned by North Lanarkshire Council and the North Lanarkshire Public Access Steering Group to prepare a public access strategy for the area.
This is an interesting and important time to consider public access issues. The policy context for access planning is changing rapidly. The proposed access legislation will provide a new right of access, accompanied by a new code of behaviour for users and, significantly, new duties placed upon land managers and local authorities.
This strategy aims to rise to the challenge of the changing legislative and institutional framework, providing a clear vision of how access in North Lanarkshire should develop over the coming years. Its proposals will be reviewed every five years, and it will also be important to monitor progress on the ground on an annual basis. Whilst the strategy's status is advisory, it is anticipated that its aims and objectives will become integrated with statutory policy frameworks in the medium term.
This is a public access strategy, its remit extending beyond countryside recreation to consider how walking, cycling and riding, can have a positive impact on the everyday lives of the communities of North Lanarkshire. For the purposes of the strategy the term 'public access' includes:
- access to greenspace in and around settlements;
- non motorised paths and routes, including commuting routes to work places;
- access to and within key recreation sites;
- strategic networks for health, safer routes to school, horse riding, etc.
- access to the wider countryside for recreation.
Significantly, this reflects the new legislation on access in Scotland, which is expected to be finalised for consultation early in 2001. The changes which it proposes, have the potential to raise the profile of access, ensuring that its role moves forward from the traditional emphasis on countryside recreation. Public access has the potential to 'deliver' a wide range of benefits including recreation, healthier lifestyles, community participation and development, local economic development, safe alternatives to local car use and environmental enhancement. Access can help to link individual settlements or housing areas and provide a positive and viable use for fragmented or degraded greenbelt. Appropriate management of access can also deliver on land management problems, like vandalism and environmental decline.
This strategy aims to evaluate the role which public access can play in meeting these aims. It also recognises the diverse nature of the communities within North Lanarkshire, and seeks to combine broad principles with area specific priorities. Above all, the strategy aims to set out a plan that is achievable, through linking actions with mechanisms and potential sources of support.
It is important to note that this document is strategic in its approach to access in North Lanarkshire. It does not set out path or route specific recommendations but aims to create a framework within which local access networks can subsequently be defined. Local stakeholder involvement – communities, land managers and user groups – will be critical to the success of this next step.
Back to Contents Forward to Next Section
|
Search NorthWeb
