Public Access Strategy - Review and Analysis National Agencies

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is the government agency responsible for conserving and enhancing Scotland's natural heritage.  It also promotes access to the outdoors as part of its aim to allow people to enjoy the natural heritage and is the main partner in the Paths for All Initiative.  The 1994 SNH document 'Enjoying the Outdoors, a Programme for Action,' sets out its policies and commitments regarding access to the countryside, and provides a context for the 'Paths for All' Initiative, stating:

1. "SNH is committed to working for improved access for the enjoyment and understanding of the natural heritage.  SNH will promote access in ways which show care and respect for others' interests, which do not devalue the natural heritage and which are sustainable in outcome.
2. SNH's vision for the development of better local access is simple: within the next decade, communities throughout Scotland should have networks of local paths for the enjoyment of local people and visitors.  The 'Paths for All' initiative is about promoting this vision, showing how it can be achieved and assisting the development of local partnerships to make it happen."

Other policy statements in the document include:

• access solutions should be comfortable.  Arrangements for access should promote confidence in visitors about where and when they can be on land, and confidence among landowners and managers that they will have support when they meet significant problems;
• more separated provision is needed for cycling and horse riding and SNH encourages local authorities to take action;
• SNH will aim in 'Paths for All' to promote the need for integrated provision for people with special needs to assist them to have good opportunities to enjoy the outdoors;
• enjoyment of the countryside should be without charge, although charges will be appropriate where specific services are provided;
• SNH welcomes the role of LECs in investment to improve access for tourism and local use, and encourages more of this.  Investment of capital in this way should recognise the revenue implications and the need to upgrade the quality of existing provision in the busy tourist areas;
• clubs and other voluntary organisations should consider new initiatives to put 'something back in' through voluntary action to help manage or care for the resources they use.

In its 1997 guidance 'Countryside Recreation and Access Strategies', SNH sets out the approach to strategy formulation followed by this study.

The Paths for All Partnership is an organisation which brings together all of the key players involved in access and the countryside.  It is charitable company with a staff section aiming to provide advice and technical information in order to help achieve the creation of path networks across Scotland.  It was created "to facilitate the creation of well-designed, well-managed and promoted networks of paths for walkers, horse riders and cyclists of all ages and abilities".

In their publication "Making the case for local path networks", they provide nine reasons for making path networks:

1. a way of meeting national policy objectives;
2. health and well-being;
3. value for money recreational provision;
4. equal opportunities – accessible and affordable leisure activities for all;
5. equity of investment and recreational provision;
6. safe transport routes;
7. community development;
8. contribution to local economies and services;
9. tourism and economic development

A key part of the Paths for all Partnership's work involves encouraging inclusive local partnerships to develop path networks.  Additionally, Paths for all Partnerships advocates the production of strategies "to identify priorities set in the context of the resources which are likely to be available for implementation".

The Scottish Executive, in co-operation with the Social Inclusion Network (comprising representatives of Government, public and private sector organisations and individuals with experience of tackling social exclusion), has developed a Social Inclusion Strategy for Scotland.  The vision is of a Scotland where:

• every child, whatever his or her social or economic background, has the best possible start in life;
• there are opportunities to work for those who are able to do so;
• those who are unable to work or are beyond the normal working age have a decent quality of life;
• everyone is enabled and encouraged to participate to the maximum of their potential.

The strategy is being implemented through initiatives such as the New Deal and New Futures Fund.  The Social Inclusion Network is working to achieve three objectives:

• to develop new ideas for action and support current good practice in key areas of social inclusion policy;
• to ensure that the success of the programme is effectively monitored and evaluated;
• to ensure that action is effectively coordinated and integrated.

Within North Lanarkshire three Social Inclusion Partnerships have been established:

• Motherwell North, which includes North Motherwell and part of Bellshill;
• North Lanarkshire, which includes North Airdrie and part of Wishaw;
• South Coatbridge, which focuses on health disadvantages and inequalities in South Coatbridge.

The social inclusion agenda has considerable relevant to the North Lanarkshire Public Access Strategy.  The latter can help tackle exclusion in a number of ways including:

• providing opportunities for local communities to become involved in planning and managing their local access resources;
• providing a source of training and employment for local people;
• improving access to local recreation resources;
• encouraging more active and healthier lifestyles.

A80 Recognising the social and economic problems facing rural areas in both upland and lowland Scotland, the Scottish Executive recently issued a strategy entitled Rural Scotland: A New Approach.  This strategy sets out a vision of a rural Scotland which is:

• integral to Scotland's success, dynamic in harnessing its traditional strengths, and with an appetite for change;
• provides opportunity for our young people - so they don't have to leave to get on;
• offers a high quality of life to all its citizens, with access to services;
• sustains and makes the most of its natural and cultural heritage.

The aims are as follows:

• Our future prosperity depends on combining traditional strengths with an appetite for change.  We will support employers and communities to stimulate local and national economic success.
• We will invest in our young people by bringing childcare, education, training and employment opportunities to where they live and work. Getting on need not mean going away.
• We will improve access to services essential to our life and work, and ensure that quality of life will depend on what you need, not where you are.
• Scotland's natural and cultural heritage must be allowed to flourish in all its diversity.  We will encourage local and regional influences to play their part in enriching the nation.

Within North Lanarkshire the rural economy has suffered considerable problems in recent years reflecting its marginal status, the declining market for agricultural products and physical factors such as fragmentation and proximity to urban areas.  These problems have been reflected in the health and vitality of rural settlements.

The North Lanarkshire Public Access Strategy could support the aims of the rural strategy by providing a further means of agricultural diversification and local economic development.  Access could provide a source of local employment and training.  Rural communities could benefit from involvement in access planning and management.

Sportscotland is the national advisory body for sport in Scotland.  Its mission is "to lead the development of sport and physical recreation in Scotland, with the aim of increasing participation and improving standards of performance".  One of its key objectives relating to countryside activities is "to facilitate access and opportunities for all to participate in countryside sport and physical recreation safely and with due consideration for environmental concerns".  It is committed in its guiding principles to "continued access to, and the development of, further opportunities for air, land, and water resource-based sports", and "considers that all of Scotland's countryside, regardless of present or future designations, should be considered as potential locations for sports....".  The Council's support for paths and access routes is designed to provide for sport and recreation:

• the Council will work closely with other agencies such as local authorities, Scottish Natural Heritage, and owners and managers of land and water in order to ensure adequate access to the resources required for sport;
• the Council promotes, wherever possible, the securing of multi-sport access where appropriate for linear routes.  This use is not to extend to motorised recreation unless the route is specifically designed for such use.
• the Council supports the development of linear and circular routes as networks for walking, cycling and horse riding.

The Health Education Board for Scotland has set the challenge of bringing about lifestyle changes to improve health to central and local government, statutory and voluntary agencies and communities.  HEBs notes that walking and cycling in particular are accessible forms of exercise that can easily improve the health and fitness of those participating.  HEBs wishes to promote more widespread exercise by everyone.

Lanarkshire Health Board, through its Health Promotion Unit is increasingly involved in health living initiatives.  Many of these are focused around moderate levels of exercise, particularly walking.  To date most projects have focused on awareness and publicity initiatives including:

• the Get Active scheme which is operated jointly with North Lanarkshire Council;
• a GP referral scheme in Cumbernauld;
• the local launch of the HEBs initiative Walk in to work out;
• workplace schemes operated with local employers.

In addition, the Health Board has decentralised staff working in Social Inclusion Partnerships, health co-operatives and hospitals.

The Scottish Tourist Board (STB) promotes Tourism in Scotland.  The STB supports access to all parts of Scotland by tourists but recognises that over-use can lead to environmental problems.  In terms of access, the STB is primarily concerned with the quality and capacity of access routes and pathways for pedestrians, and in areas with recognised tourist activity or potential.

Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire is a subsidiary local enterprise company of Scottish Enterprise (SE). SEL works to promote economic development across Lanarkshire in a socially inclusive way.  SEL is committed to working in partnership to implement its strategy 'Changing Gear' (see below for more detailed analysis).  It aims to support projects which train people and give them new skills or initiatives, which in turn are likely to contribute to attracting investment.  The organisation also stresses the importance of developing Lanarkshire as a competitive environment in terms not only of physical links but the environment.  SEL is currently working in partnership with North Lanarkshire Council and British Steel plc on the sustainable regeneration of Ravenscraig, which incorporates a number of transport initiatives.

The Forestry Commission is a large owner and manager of land in the UK through its two bodies the Forestry Authority and Forest Enterprise.  The Forestry Authority can provide grant aid for woodland management. Forest Enterprise encourages public access to its woods and forests.  It recommends the approach it adopts in its recreation policy to other land managers, stating it:

• welcomes people on foot to all its woodlands, subject only to considerations of safety, wildlife conservation and any legal constraints that affect the land;
• provides information, so that people know where the most enjoyable woodlands are and how to get there;
• develops, with others, the great potential of its woodlands to support tourism in rural areas;
• opens up woodlands by providing simple car parks, footpaths and tracks, taking account of visitors' needs.

Additionally, the Forestry Authority promotes a "Walkers Welcome" initiative to encourage public access to private sector woodlands.

The Central Scotland Forest, located between Edinburgh and Glasgow aims to build on the sustainable principles of the government's White Paper on the Environment.  Aims of the strategy (produced in 1995) include enhanced recreational, leisure and tourism opportunities in the countryside and community involvement.  Anticipated benefits include the development of a better quality of life for local people and improved countryside access.  The strategy recognises that 90% of countryside walking in Scotland occurs in the lowlands near towns and villages.  Rights of way in the area are described as limited and disjointed although they are supported by a number of informal paths.  Disused railway lines and river valleys are said to provide for existing and potential long distance routes.  The strategy suggests that opportunities exist in the Central Scotland Forest area for:

• Activities such as mountain biking
• Extending and managing networks of local and long distance paths
• Countryside recreation making use of restored mineral sites
• Access to attractive, interesting countryside
• Conservation of sites of natural and cultural interest.

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