Coastal Access and Shooting – latest news and views from BASC

17 December 2009

Plans for coastal access continue to gather pace. A list of counties has been announced. A series of regional stakeholder workshops are underway. BASC’s head office and regional teams are busy representing shooting interests on all these and other issues. Read below to find out more.

Take action – comment on the draft coastal access guidance

The methodology for the creation of new coastal access rights will be contained in a Natural England guidance document. This guidance will explain how to make your voice heard when your stretch of coast is subject to coastal access proposals.

The content of this guidance is currently the focus of a consultation, with comments required back to Natural England by 5 February 2010.  It contains the nuts and bolts of how the route of each coastal path and the open access land linked to that path will be decided.
 
Thanks to BASC’s input on earlier drafts of this guidance, the final draft gives significant coverage of shooting as both a recreational activity and as a land management sector. This means that before any decisions can be taken on the creation of new coastal access rights, shooting interests have to be considered in detail.  Take note of Chapter 8 in particular, which has separate sections on 'Game Management', 'Wild Deer Management' and 'Shooting Live Quarry'. BASC will be submitting its recommendations on these and other relevant sections in the guidance. The final version is likely to be approved by April 2010.

Click here to comment on the draft guidance for coastal access

BASC’s regional teams are representing shooting interests at a series of Natural England workshops around England in December and January as part of the consultation process.  If you think the guidance can be improved let us know by the 31 January 2010 so that we can consider your suggestions in our response to the consultation.

Good news for wildfowlers on coastal access

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 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. 

Click here to read a BASC briefing on the CROW Act consultation

Warning - coastal access involves more than just a path!

The creation of new coastal access rights will take place over the next 10-12 years, with Natural England being in charge of the process. The English coast has been divided into 50 areas, with the creation of coastal access rights in around five areas per year.  The planning and consultation process for each area will take will take up to two years before such rights become law.

There are two aspects to the new rights of access – a right of way in the form of a path, and an area of open access on either side.  Whether the coastal path follows an existing route or a new one is created, the new legislation will mean that certain types of land seaward of the coastal path will become open access land by default, and some land types inland could also become open access land, either by default or by negotiation with landowners and occupiers.  So, this is more than simply a path, it involves the creation of new access rights on the coast that could be several hundred metres wide.

Closer to you - Dorset, Kent, Somerset, Norfolk, Cumbria and East Riding

A short section of coast at Weymouth Bay in Dorset will be the first site where new rights of coastal access will take effect, with planning and consultation starting some time after April 2010.  Natural England and Dorset County Council aim to have a coastal path in place in time for the Olympic sailing events held off Weymouth in 2012.

It has also been announced that Natural England are planning to start implementation by April 2011 for stretches of coast in Kent, Somerset, Norfolk, Cumbria and East Riding.  More details are still pending.

Natural England will begin discussions with the local access authority (usually county councils) at least 12 months before implementation is likely to start.

The Voice of Shooting – BASC’s policy work on coastal access

Since 2005 BASC has been the consistent and influential voice of shooting at every step of the debate on coastal access, consulting widely with shooters, listening to their diverse needs and acting successfully on them through stakeholder meetings and consultation responses. 
We have ensured that shooters will have a say on the location of any coastal path at the planning stage, that open access inland of the path will not be allowed where driven shooting or target shooting takes place, that the public must keep dogs under effective control, and that neither the path nor open access will be even considered on key areas of mudflats and saltmarsh for wildfowling and wildfowl.  For those who feel aggrieved by the decision making process, a full right of appeal to the Secretary of State will be specifically available to those with shooting interests, and for BASC members, our political support in that process.

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