Benefits of Rights of Way
From GPG
Rights of Way offer the public a fabulous range of opportunities to improve their health and fitness, and their quality of life, as well as safe routes to travel to school or work. The relevance of these factors is increasingly being recognised by local authorities seking to tap into funding for managing the rights of way network. Fitting rights of way into the overall work of the authority and demonstrating how they deliver a number of the broader objectives makes the case for rights of way. Such a joined-up approach may not come naturally to all rights of way officers used to doing their work in the knowledge it has to be done because it is a statutory function. Examples of how the benefits of rights of way can be demonstrated are given below.
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Not Just a Highway Function
(Looking beyond the concept of highway law to manage public rights of way)
Over the last few years there have been many changes to the legislation affecting the management of the public rights of way network. With increasing pressures facing Highway Authorities, new ideas or opportunities are being looked at to see where budget cuts and other savings can be made. More often than not this can have an adverse affect on a public rights of way unit.
All public rights of way Officers will only be too familiar with the following statement found in the Highways Act 1980, ' to assert and protect the rights of ... for the enjoyment ...'
It is important that rights of way oficers find time to think beyond the highway function and concentrate more on the end results, thus gaining the opportunity to attract other funding to enhance the path network and closer working with other colleagues within the same or different departments; namely land managers, Woodland Officers and Nature Conservation Officers.
If your Highway Authority sees the public rights of way service function as nothing other than a highway function, it is possible for that authority to look at outsourcing this service area. If that occurred, it would soon become apparent that the work carried out by a public rights of way unit was much more than just a highway function.
Issues to consider include :
- How well valued is the public rights of way unit in your Authority?
- Do the rights of way staff have a good working rapport with Woodland Officers, Nature Conservation Officers and land managers (council land managers)?
Or
- is the dialogue between them only when something goes wrong?
Whatever the reason, or the situation it is important to ensure that there is closer working between these colleagues bringing together all aspects of their work. If this is managed well it provides greater opportunities to tap into various funds with the outcome of a well balanced path network for people to enjoy their visitor experience.
There is more to the management of the public rights of way network than just carrying out a highway function. There is a need to ensure that the path network is managed with biodiversity in mind.
If you imagine walking along a well maintained river bank that is also a public right of way, and there is a hedge on the same bank full of bird song; the public's enjoyment is not just about the path; but the quality of the surrounding environment. If the river were to be polluted and smelt of decomposing matter and the hedge no longer provided cover for small nesting birds and the bird song was lost; what good is the well maintained river bank path, other than fulfilling a highway function?
Biodiversity encompasses the 'living' part of the environment. It is about the sustainable management of the living environment which in turn enhances the physical and spiritual well-being of people's lives. Biodiversity therefore underpins recreation and health and the public rights of way network is one of the key elements to help drive and deliver this.
Delivering biodiversity targets will provide the mechanism to enable an Authority to fulfil its other statutory obligations more effectively.
'Many people value our countryside for quiet enjoyment be it walking, wildlife watching, cycling or climbing - for spiritual refreshment and well-being. Direct enjoyment of biodiversity is a major reason for these countryside visits. Survey evidence suggests that birds and wildlife were the primary reason influencing the decision of 59% of visitors to the countryside.'
(working with the grain of nature, p72) DEFRA
Carrying out a highway function does give some security for Public Rights of Way Units, but some authorities have outsourced this area of work. Although it is possible to separate out the highway function, it is good practice to consider the wider issues involved.
Never has it been so important to seek funding opportunities elsewhere and linking the management of the public rights of way network with an authority's land managers and Nature Conservation Units so that the path network is not just managed as a highway function in its entirety.
Public Benefits
The public benefits of outdoor recreation are increasingly recognised amongst policy makers. These can be briefly summarised as:
Preventing and improving poor health
- physical health - opportunities to be more active and reduce obesity and disease associated with sedentary lifestyles;
- mental health - outdoor recreation can reduce stress and increase self-esteem through direct contact with wildlife, geology, landscape and greenspace in a variety of forms.
NICE - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence - has commissioned research into effective transport measures to promote safe cycling and walking. Their report gives information on the health benefits of walking and cycling and can be downloaded from NICE
Cheshire County Council researched the health benefits of ROW as part of their ROWIP process - the documents are below, follow this link to the executive summary.
The Countryside Agency Healthy Walking initiative has been very successful in demonstrating the health benefits walking can bring - health benefits section of the WHI website.
For examples of how ROWIPs have described the health benefits of ROW go to Health and economic benefits
Quality of life
- personal development and challenge - often satisfied by outdoor recreation;
- cultural - the natural environment as a source of inspiration for artistic and cultural creativity;
- social cohesion - outdoor recreation as a social activity with friends and family;
- fun and adventure - the outdoors provides a place to play (for both young and old) - a major factor in quality of life and maintaining good health;
Better citizenship
- opportunities to support and contribute to nature conservation activities;
- education - understanding the environment around us as part of formal and informal education leading to better citizenship and respect for the natural environment;
- developing life skills.
Leisure spend
- support for rural services through visitor spend;
- the leisure industry, from hoteliers to the manufacturers of outdoor leisure gear are dependent on outdoor recreation.
Bedfordshire CC researched the economic benefits of ROW as part of their ROWIP process, see the report. For other examples of how ROWIPs have dealt with this issue see Health and Economic Benefits.
The Ramblers' Association website has reports on The Economic Value of Walking in England, and The Economic Value of Walking in Rural Wales
Sustainable travel
- rights of way offer safe, traffic free routes for recreation as well as for travel to school or work, or to access services.
For examples of how ROWIPs explain the relevance of rights of way as sustainable transport routes see Sustainable Travel.
DEFRA have been working with Cranfield University and Bedfordshire County Council to develop a tool to evaluate the social and economic value of rights of way. The report gives more information.
Useful publications making the case for rights of way
DfT guidance Framework for a local walking strategy aims to help local highway authorities prepare their local walking strategies (LWS). Based on work undertaken for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) by Transport Planning (International) Ltd, it complements the guidance in Encouraging walking: advice to local authorities and describes the minimum actions needed for a strategy to achieve measurable change. The framework is not prescriptive and individual authorities may wish to include additional information. A list of relevant publications and sources of information is included at the end of the leaflet.
Inclusive Mobility - guide to best practice on access to pedestrian and transport infrastructure introduces the issues covered in the Department for Transport (DfT) publication Inclusive Mobility: A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure. The full document contains technical advice on all the topics covered in this leaflet: it will be of interest to transport professionals involved in improving the transport environment and for those seeking to meet obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The European Greenways newsletter contains regular articles on the benefits of greenways. The newsletters are available to download.
Research
A number of studies have been carried out which demonstrate the economic value of walking, cycling and riding.
Sustrans
In a study a few years ago, Sustrans found that, by applying the same evaluation processes used by the Government to decide on transport projects from heavy rail to road improvements, recently constructed walking and cycling routes have a combined benefit to cost ratio of about 20:1. This is in contrast to a typical ratio of around 3:1 for a road or public transport scheme. For example the high profile £15 billion London Cross Rail project has a ratio of 2:1 and motorway improvement schemes often have a benefit value that is significantly lower than the cost.
The three walking and cycling routes in the study link schools and communities to the National Cycle Network in Liverpool, Hartlepool and East Sussex and cost £1.7 million to develop and build, but their benefit value was almost £33.5 million.
For more information see Sustrans website.
With regard to economic appraisal, Sustrans has recently been working on the NATA refresh and the WHO HEAT tool for assigning a value to physical activity benefits associated with cycling. Its website will be updated in due course with the results and following this some new scheme appraisal work is anticipated.
British Horse Society
The British Horse Society has data on the economic impact of the horse industry :
Research conducted in 2004 by the Henley Centre for Defra and the British Horse Industry Confederation indicated that 2.4 million people ride in the UK and five million people in the UK have an active interest in the horse industry.
The British Market Research Bureau Target Group Index 2003 consumer survey (as quoted in the Henley Report) indicated that nearly 23 percent of adults in the UK have an interest in riding, including watching racing and reading magazines about horses.
The same source indicated that interest in horse-related activities is spread across both sexes and a wide age range and variety of social backgrounds. The data suggested that 83 percent of regular adult riders are female and that 51 percent of adults interested in horse-related activities, including racing, are male.
The Henley Report quotes research that indicates that annually horse owners and riders are estimated to spend around:
- £2.5 billion on horses and riding (source: BETA National Equestrian Survey 1999),
- £150 million on buying horses (source: BETA National Equestrian Survey 1999),
- £1.3 billion on the upkeep of horses, excluding vets (source: ONS Consumer Trends Q3 2003, figures are 2002),
- £500 million on lessons with 45 million paid-for riding lessons taking place every year (source: BETA National Equestrian Survey 1999), and
- The same source estimates the number of horses in the UK as being between 600,000 and 975,000.
- Defra reports that 623,000 equine passports had been issued by August 2005.
- The Farriers Registration Council reports that there are 2,473 registered farriers in the UK in August 2005.
