Natural England - Results of our Coastal Access Audit (July 2009)

Results of our Coastal Access Audit (July 2009)

Around a thousand miles of new paths will be needed to create a continuous route around England’s coast. The challenge is highlighted in a Natural England audit of existing coastal access that we published in July 2009 in preparation for the passing of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, which has now become law. Below is the information about the Coastal Access Audit that we published then.

walking along the south west coast path

 

England's coast path
Length of England's audited coast2748 miles
Satisfactory, legally secure path1827 miles (66%)
No satisfactory, legally secure path921 miles (34%)

As part of the survey, a series of maps have been produced to illustrate the current level of access to England’s coastline. They show that 66 per cent of the coast – 1,827 miles – is currently served by a legally secure path, while 34 per cent – 921 miles – has no access or access only on permissive paths.

View Natural England's coast path gap maps

The maps illustrate the stop-start nature of existing coastal routes and whilst the presence of a red line does not indicate a total lack of access the paths that are available may not be legally secure for the future. Extensive stretches of the coastline already have legally secured paths but in many other places provision is fragmented or non-existent. This means that, on average, a walker can go no further than 2 miles before encountering a section without a satisfactory, legally secure path.

Helen Phillips, Chief Executive of Natural England said: “The news that the public lack access to nearly 1000 miles of coastline is a sobering reminder of how much is at stake in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill. There are significant challenges ahead, but for millions of people, the Bill presents a unique opportunity to transform their enjoyment of England’s countryside”.

As well as creating a path, the provisions in the forthcoming Bill allows for the establishment of a corridor of land in which people will be able to rest and explore the coastal environment. The route will also be made erosion proof, with the path rolling inland when landslips occur. Natural England’s survey estimates that 13 per cent of the existing coastal rights of way could be lost to erosion in the next 20 years.

Once the Marine and Coastal Access Bill is passed by Parliament, it is expect that the new path will take ten years to complete.

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