Published: 20th October 2022

We recently joined with a diverse range of partners to call on the Westminster Government to make equitable access to the outdoors a fundamental part of its environment policy.

The document ‘The Outdoors for all’ was sent to the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport. The coalition of organisations represent people who cycle, equestrians, walkers and disabled ramblers, climbers, swimmers, and organisations who represent the outdoor industry. There were three simple proposals to Government.

1. Fair, shared access for all to the outdoors means a more equal freedom to roam, on land and water, with more and better-connected spaces close to where people live. Long-term investment for walking, horse riding, cycling routes and the expansion of green public transport would be beneficial not only for people's health, but also in reducing our impact on climate.
2. Better opportunities for young people to experience and enjoy the outdoors must be a priority for future policy. There needs to be a much greater focus on the responsible enjoyment of the outdoors from a young age and the Countryside Code should be included as part of an outdoor recreation curriculum.
3. Greater investment in people’s wellbeing and ability to enjoy the outdoors would promote good health, avoiding future costs to the NHS and helping to build a better quality of life for all. One of the key proposals within this theme includes a fund to be established to support local authorities to create, improve and promote green and blue routes in towns and cities.

Scotland remains the only part of Britain that has fully embraced the economic and health benefits of enabling greater responsible access to the outdoors. The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 remains a credible blue print for the rest of the country. However, despite two decades of proof that enhanced access to the outdoors is both practical and beneficial Governments in Cardiff and London unfortunately remain wedded to the past.

This significantly impacts people who want to cycle off road. At present, if you choose to ride a bike you only have access to less than a third of the 140,000 miles of public paths. There is also sparse access to the three million acres of Open Access Land or the 2,800 miles of newly created coastal access.

By joining with other organisations who value the outdoors as much as many people who cycle do, we hope to demonstrate to Governments the importance of enabling the outdoors to be responsibly available to everyone. Presently too many people feel excluded from the outdoors, including those who cycle.

The pandemic showed us that people crave the freedom of the outdoors and that for many people that means cycling. We know that we need an inactive, predominantly urban population to have a love of and respectful understanding of our precious open, wild and farmed spaces. If people don’t care about the UK’s beautiful countryside, they will have no interest in protecting it for future generations.

As always please get in touch if you want to discuss this issue choosecycling@britishcycling.org.uk