Should walkers have the right to roam free in the countryside - vote in our poll
Hikers are being excluded from 2,500 public nature spots, as the areas are surrounded by public land with no legal right of way.
As part of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act 2000, around eight percent of land in England is designated "open country" with right to roam, but 2,700 hectares are obstructed by private ownership. This means that access to certain landscapes is only possible by trespass, as some open country areas do not have public footpaths connected to them.
Campaigner Lewis Winks branded it "ridiculous" that some walkers are forced to trespass, adding: "The absurdity of access islands is a clear example of why our current system of access rights in England is broken. Often people don't know where they have a right to go in the countryside."
Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), stated that no laws need to be broken. She said: "Nobody is forced to trespass. It is a choice and millions of acres of land are publicly accessible without the need to do so."
However, she explained farmers and land managers need more support from the government to enable greater access to the countryside. Victoria added: "Gates, stiles, paths - they all cost money and time in their creation and management."
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According to the BBC, payments made this summer as part of the government's environmental land management scheme could be used by landowners to develop new public routes across farmland, providing entry to currently inaccessible areas. The Right to Roam campaign group is calling for laws that would create a right of responsible access across the countryside, while also allowing certain exemptions.
Mr Winks said statutory right of access is essential as "permission can simply be withdrawn by the landowner - it's just not the same as a right of access." He told the BBC: "Some landowners permit paths - others go out of their way to obstruct the public from getting to these access islands. Fixing this goes well beyond putting in a few permissive paths." This comes as Natural England has a 2025 deadline to review the CRoW Act maps, which was established in 2004 and 2005.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said: "Whilst rights of way are a matter for local authorities, we are aware of areas of open access land to which there is no legal route of access, and we are considering how to address this as we map open access land." We want to know if you think walkers should have the right to roam free in the countryside. Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.
The Mirror will also be discussing the topic with you in the comments section below and you can join in! All you have to do is sign up, submit your comment, register your details and then you can take part.
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