Good news for wildfowlers on coastal access

1 December 2009

A proposal to grant Natural England powers to restrict or exclude public access to mudflats or saltmarsh will be welcome news for wildfowlers if this proposal is approved by Defra.  Read below for more about this and other proposals on coastal access in BASC’s response to a consultation on amendments to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act).

Coastal Access and Shooting – latest news and views from BASC

What's it all about?

The Marine and Coastal Access Act was the first legislative step towards the creation of new coastal access rights around the coast of England.  Defra has proposed to amend the CROW Act to legislate for the creation of new coastal paths, where no right of way currently exists, and to change the law on open access as it would apply on the coastal margin.  

Powers to restrict or exclude access on saltmarsh and mudflats

BASC agreed with this proposal, which if approved will mean that Natural England will have the power to prevent new access rights to key areas for wildfowling and wildfowl.  Excluding open access rights from saltmarsh and mudflats is an issue that BASC has tirelessly campaigned on since coastal access was first discussed in 2005. A commitment to regularly use this power is included in the final draft of Natural England’s guidance to creating new coastal access rights.  Ultimately, it will be up to local wildfowling clubs and other conservation interests locally to ensure that this power will be used when proposals for coastal access take place in their area. 

Should the coastal path be 4 meters wide?

BASC did not agree that coastal paths should be 4 meters wide, given that existing paths are required to be between 1 and 1.5 meters wide. We pointed out that the Ramblers Association advice on the law on paths is that these widths are reasonably convenient to use. Moreover we reminded Defra of the fact that when coastal access was originally proposed there was no coastal margin involved. Given that coastal margin has been subsequently been proposed alongside the route, we believe it is an excessive requirement to also have a 4 meter wide route and that it places an unreasonable burden on landowners and occupiers trying to manage land on and around it.

Remove rights to restrict/exclude access for up to 28 days per year

We disagreed with the proposed removal of this safeguard simply to address the legal problems introduced by using the CROW Act to create paths in the first place.  The CROW Act contains such safeguards for good reason, in balancing the needs of landowners and occupiers with the provision of access.  Certainty that the route will be open depends on coordinated signage on the ground, which will be achieved by signage of closures placed at the right point on the route to allow alternative routes to be used. 

Should coastal paths be allowed alongside cultivated land?

This is currently not allowed and we stated that this should remain the case as the margins of cultivated land are often the most important areas for game and wildlife management, are managed specifically with nature conservation interests in mind

Pheasant and partridge should be defined as livestock

We recommended that the livestock definition in the CROW Act should be extended to include pheasant and partridge.  Game rearing and releasing structures need to safe-guarded against the security and bio-security risks that providing new access rights on the coast will bring. 

Remove the restriction for dogs to be kept on leads when on coastal margin

We did not agree with removing the restriction, which currently applies between 1 March and 31 July on open access land.  This is an important restriction to protect nature conservation interests and should be retained for coastal land.  However, we believe the restriction should go much further, that a restriction requiring dogs on leads should apply all year round for members of the public accessing the coastal margin. 

Read BASC's response in full

Click on the link below to download a full copy of our response to the consultation.
  BASC response to consultation on CROW Act amendments for coastal land  

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