DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT
Countryside Access Strategy 2016
Purpose of the Report
For the Minister to approve the publication and implementation of the Countryside Access Strategy 2016
Background
Jersey has an extensive network of paths across public and private land in some of the Island’s most beautiful landscapes.
The paths are used by an estimated 100,000 people a year including local walkers and tourists. They help to promote significant environmental, educational, health and economic benefits to the Island.
The States of Jersey Natural Environment Team manages 70 km of public access to the Jersey countryside, however, there are a number of other agencies that provide additional public access.
The need for a review of how the network is managed is long overdue. The Jersey countryside and its associated biodiversity is one of its most treasured assets but it is under considerable pressure. Increasing population leads to an increasing requirement for housing and recreational open space. Access in the countryside raises conflict between users, providers and land owners on narrow paths which are mainly unsuitable for shared use. Furthermore, limited funding and investment since the early 1990’s has resulted in a gradually deteriorating asset, and much of the infrastructure, installed at the same time as the paths were created in the 1980’s, is long past its replacement date. In addition, a lack of coordinated working by access providers in the past has resulted in an ad hoc and often confusing jumble of signs, unconnected paths and untargeted and non-strategic funding.
In 2014, the Department undertook a public consultation to ask for people’s views on the main issues surrounding use of the paths and possible options for their future management and posed a series of questions: How do people use the paths? What other facilities would they like? How can we balance the cost of maintaining the paths to keep them safe and usable with limited resources?
What is clear is that paths originally designed for pedestrian use in the 1980’s are now being used for a much wider range of recreational pursuits: the access strategy consultation in 2014 highlighted this and that there was no clear consensus as to what people should use the access network for and how to avoid conflicts with different user groups.
Consequently, partnerships, communication and shared responsibility are key objectives that run through the final strategy. Four priority areas of work have been identified to help to achieve the vision that access to Jersey’s coast and countryside should be safe, sustainable and cost effective, with minimal impact on biodiversity.
The four priority areas are:
A. Engagement and cooperative working
B. Interpretation and awareness
C. Legislation
D. Managing and improving access to the countryside
In addition, the Department of the Environment will be investing additional financial and staff resources into delivering a set of short, medium and long-term actions to promote better engagement and cooperative working—identifying the barriers that are preventing people from enjoying and visiting the countryside and seeking to remove these barriers; improved interpretation and awareness and a network that has greater provision for a broader range of users and that is safe and resilient into the future
Recommendation
The Minister is recommended to approve the publication and implementation of the Countryside Access Strategy 2016.
Written by: | Natural Environment Officer |
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Approved by: | Director Environmental Management and Rural Economy |
Ministerial Decision Case Ref: ………………………………………………