Improving Countryside Access
Through Rights of Way Improvement Plans

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What is a Rights of Way Improvement Plan?
The Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) is a new beast created by S60 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000. Essentially, the Countryside Agency and DEFRA were looking for a way of encouraging Highway Authorities to plan strategically for the development and “modernisation” of the rights of way network.

By November 2007, all authorities have to publish a plan which assesses:

- the extent to which “local rights of way” meet the present and likely future needs of the public,
- the opportunities provided by “local rights of way” for exercise and other forms of open air recreation and the enjoyment of the authority’s area,
- the accessibility of “local rights of way” to blind and partially sighted persons and others with mobility problems,
- and includes a statement of the action proposed for the management of “local rights of way” and for securing and improved network of “local rights of way”.

An extra factor in the equation is that the ROWIP will become a strand of the Local Transport Plan from July 2005.

What are “Local Rights of Way”?
The Act does not put the phrase “local rights of way” in inverted commas, but the definition does not only include public rights of way recorded on the Definitive Map, but also cycle tracks, permissive routes and other routes used locally which may not be on the Definitive Map.

Benefits for countryside access and wider agendas
The process for making the assessment is set out in statutory guidance, which says that we must take into account the opportunities for access to a range of countryside attractions (country parks, watersides, woodlands, coast, viewpoints and a whole range of other features) which might or might not have rights of way leading to them at present. This includes land designated for Open Access under the CROW Act.

We must also link in with all other relevant plans and strategies: local, regional and national, and this creates splendid opportunities for integrating as much as possible with our Countryside Management Service and the Mersey Forest, both of which are also aiming to improve countryside access, as well as with a wide range of other officers, groups and organisations whose objectives may be served by improving access. The ROWIP is relevant for community development, health, social inclusion, sustainable transport, tourism, the rural economy… the list goes on.

Countryside Agency Demonstration Project
In the autumn of 2002, the Countryside Agency set up a demonstration project, run by consultants, and involving one authority or group of authorities in each of its 8 English Regions. The project aimed:

- to complete a series of “mini-ROWIPs” in about a year,
- to support the demonstration by funding a number of research studies to provide generic and more locally specific data which would substantiate the actions proposed as part of the ROWIP,
- to develop examples of good practice and disseminate the information by means of Research Notes and website information.

How the Project developed in Cheshire
Cheshire chose to do the pilot in the Weaver valley, chosen because there were other initiatives going on there, including Greenways, cycleway and urban regeneration projects, market town initiatives and a proposal for a North West Development Agency funded Regional Park. For each demonstration area, the Countryside Agency chose two different topics for research studies carried out by consultants and in Cheshire, these related to:

- health benefits of improvements to rights of way, by means of focus groups made up mainly of people who had been referred or told by their GPs to take exercise,
- improving access by means of sustainable travel. An initial sustainable travel literature and data review led to a second study which employed a draft methodology from the first study to focus in on the needs of sample urban and rural areas.

Other research studies which provided supporting information were carried out by the County Council’s R & I section as part of the Community Survey 2003, the Vale Royal Greenways Project, and a sustainable travel questionnaire which was issued through the local Ramblers’ Association.

How is it going?
Carrying out a major project like this was always going to be tough and the time constraints meant that we have not completed a mini-ROWIP as such, but we have done a summary report and the ROWIP is now being developed for the whole of Cheshire. If we were just to take one aspect of our work – health – the research study has been instrumental in introducing us to an agenda and partners with whom we can work to make a real difference to people’s lives. It has given us an enthusiasm to be involved and a vision of how the countryside can offer to others the physical and mental well being which we know it offers to us and which we can take too much for granted.

If you are not yet involved with the ROWIP process in your own authority, I would encourage you to make contact with your Public Rights of Way team as soon as possible, for your mutual benefit.

For more information, contact Jane Krause

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