Dartmoor Preservation Association has called on the Government to stand up for walkers and riders in its ‘land use plan’.

The Government is consulting all those with a vested interest in the UK’s open spaces as it tries to balance nature, climate change action, public recreation and the need for housing in countrywide land use plan.

It launched a public consultation on its Land Use Framework in January and is speaking to farmers, landowners, businesses and nature groups across the country.

The Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) welcomes the plan but is concerned that public access and its recreational value might take a back seat to other concerns in the plan.

They stand with the Open Spaces Society (OSS), Britain’s oldest national conservation body, which wants to see more done to improve footpaths, the minor road work and protected landscapes, like Dartmoor and the Tamar Valley. It also wants access to maps and historic footpath maps online made easier online.

Tom Usher, CEO of the DPA, said: “At the DPA we fully support the OSS six-point recommendations. The new land use framework discussions are very welcome but we must not throw out ancient and hard-won access rights in rewriting the future of the UK landscape.”

The association wants more to be done by the Government to help walkers make the most of the natural landscape that is protected through digital media. Both organisations are suggesting that information about rights of way and public access shown on Ordnance Survey maps should be incorporated in apps such as Google Maps.

It also wants to see the Land Registry’s register of title to be available at no charge which would help walkers report problems with blocked paths and flag up and report historic rights of way, with a view to getting them reopened.

Agricultural grants to incentivise access and ensure that landowners and occupiers are penalised when in receipt of public subsidy for land where paths and access are not in good condition.

Path in Herefordshire.
A footpath with a generous width, demonstrating what could be achieved more widely if farmers were incentivised to provide more access. (Dartmoor Preservation Association)

The Land-Use Framework is part of the Government’s Plan for Change which aims to support economic growth through building 1.5 million homes, securing clean power, protecting farmland and restoring the natural world.

Within the commitments of the Land-Use Plan, the Government aim to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England but the OSS says this does not go far enough in ensuring greater opportunities for public access throughout the countryside, and especially where people live.

Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society: “The land-use framework could do so much more for the public—it’s a missed opportunity. It is focused on agricultural land and food production but, as the House of Lords committee recommended in 2022, it should equally be about public access. You cannot separate public access from land use, it should be at the heart of the framework. It’s time the government celebrated the Labour movement’s proud history of access provision for all, and stepped up its efforts to improve this throughout England, and especially on people’s doorsteps.”