Public Access Strategy - Costs & Resources - Resources

North Lanarkshire Council Resources

Clearly, potential costs are substantial.  A shift in priorities is required in order to secure the levels of finance needed to develop a high quality path network.  At present North Lanarkshire Council does not have a single budget dedicated to access, nor a single mechanism for planning, implementing and managing access initiatives.  This reflects the relatively low political status of access work to date and its corresponding low priority in terms of budget provision.

Like many local authorities, responsibilities for access are spread through a number of different departments and divisions of the council.  In part this is a product of the local government re-organisation in 1996 which replaced four district authorities (or parts thereof), a new town corporation and the part of the former regional council, to create North Lanarkshire Council as a unitary authority.  Each of the former districts planned and managed access differently.  It also reflects the existing statutory duties imposed on local authorities, which relate principally to rights of way, and the budget constraints which have discouraged a proactive and comprehensive approach to access.

Current responsibilities for access in North Lanarkshire Council include the following:

• Within each of the three area divisions of the council, one planning officer whose responsibilities include rights of way.  The main function is the resolution of disputes.  It is estimated that up to 20% of these officers' time is spent on rights of way issues;
• one planning officer walks all the rights of way on an annual basis with the aim of maintaining established use and identifying problems;
• the Countryside and Landscape section of the Community Services Department has responsibility for day to day management and maintenance of public open spaces across the council area.  Paths and access routes are not identified as a separate budget or area of work;
• Community Services also has responsibility for three country parks (Strathclyde Country Park, Drumpelier Country Park and Palacerigg Country Park).  Each of these has a team of rangers whose time is largely accounted for by work relating to the park in question. Rangers do not, therefore, play a significant role in relation to access more widely within the local authority area;
• the Countryside and Landscape section also plays a role in relation to specific ongoing access projects in North Lanarkshire including the North Calder Heritage Trail (though the project officer post which is currently vacant, and implementation are funded in partnership with other local and national agencies) and the East Wishaw path network;
• the Council's Transportation section of the Planning and Environment department has responsibility for maintaining adopted section of paths;
• the council has some involvement in a series of Countryside Around Towns (CAT) projects which originated prior to local government reorganisation.  These include projects within the Clyde Valley and the Airdrie Woodlands Initiative.

Overall, however, it is significant that the council has neither a single budget that is dedicated to access, nor a single mechanism for planning, managing and implementing access initiatives across North Lanarkshire.

In recognition of this situation, and in response to the evolving access agenda in Scotland, moves are being taken to address this issue.  The Planning and Environment Department Directorate Support Unit is leading the North Lanarkshire Access Strategy Working Group.  This group, which meets on a monthly basis, includes representatives of council departments (planning, transportation, community services, health) and other agencies and organisations with responsibility for access provision, planning, implementation or management.  The latter include Scottish Natural Heritage, Paths for All Partnership, Central Scotland Countryside Trust, Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire and the Forestry Commission.  The Group aims to develop a partnership based approach to access and has responsibility for steering and implementing this access strategy.  With funding support from Scottish Natural Heritage, the group has recently appointed two access officers.  Based in the Countryside and Landscape Unit, these officers have responsibility for strategy and development, and implementation.

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