ROWIP Demonstration Programme
From GPG
In 2002 The Countryside Agency funded work on an 'exemplar' ROWIP in each of the eight English regions. This work resulted in much useful research and to the publication of the first Rights of Way Improvement Plans (ROWIPs).
The lessons learnt from the exemplar work have been used to guide the recent work on How to Write a ROWIP.
The Exemplar ROWIPs
The exemplar plans that were prepared by the demonstration authorities, together with a short introductory note on each plan, can be seen in Outputs of the ROWIP Exemplar Programme.
More recently published ROWIPs can be seen in Published ROWIPs.
Related Research Studies
Each demonstration authority or group of authorities was also grant aided by the Countryside Agency to undertake two linked research projects to look at some of key themes and other related issues which an improvement plan must address if it is to comply with the Secretary of State's guidance. Several of the authorities also chose to supplement these studies with their own, additional research.
A total of 23 studies were carried out. Details of all of the studies can be seen, and the study reports downloaded, from the outputs section. For each study there is:
- A short summary explaining what the study was about and giving the key findings
- The full study report or reports, together with all the relevant technical appendices.
Many of the authorities have also provided short evaluation reports on their studies. These answer questions such as how much did the study cost, did the authority think it was worthwhile, how much did it contribute to their understanding of the issues or the ROWIP process, and was the study considered good value for money.
