Farmers ‘should not be liable’ for changes to access legislation

ANY changes to access legislation should not place additional costs, burdens or liabilities on farmers, NFU Cymru said.

The union was responding to a written statement by Rural Affairs Secretary Lesley Griffiths on improving opportunities to access the outdoors for recreation.

NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board chairman Hedd Pugh said: “Welsh farmers are the key providers of a significant proportion of Wales’ access provision which includes 16,000 miles of footpaths, 3,000 miles of bridleways, 1,200 miles of cycle network, and 460,000 hectares of open access land.

“We recognise that public access to the countryside is an important mechanism to improve public health and we acknowledge the role that outdoor recreation can play in helping to address low levels of physical activity in Wales. However, there is no evidence to show that this issue can be addressed by simply providing greater and greater amounts of public access.

“Indeed, the evidence shows that despite a threefold increase in land accessible by right since devolution, usage numbers have not changed.

“The issue of access and recreation is a key concern for our members and this was reflected in the high levels of interest in the 2015 consultation. Any changes to access legislation will inevitably impact disproportionately on the farming community.

“NFU Cymru is clear that reforms to access legislation in Wales should focus on the modernisation of the public rights of way network. The current system does not take into account modern day farming and the procedures to record, create, divert or close public rights of way must be made far easier and less expensive.”