Agenda item

Andy Farmer (PDNPA Engagement Manager) outlined some of the issues with rights of way as the routes most used by visitors to access the National Park. He highlighted the importance of not just the maintenance of the routes, but also giving confidence to users and making them feel welcome on the network.

The 2021 ‘ease of use survey’ assessed a sample of routes in the National Park against a standard set of criteria and took into consideration all users. However some routes could still be challenging on the perception of standard accessibility.

There had been a decrease in numbers of full-time rangers in the last few years which has impacted on the ability to maintain the access work carried out. With reduced funding  this might mean concentrating resources on priorities such as between recreation hubs.

Another ease-of-use survey will be carried out over winter/spring. The results would be reported to the Forum in summer 2023.

The following question was posed to the LAF - should ‘accessible and welcoming’ be the target for the rights of way network? If so, how should the National Park Authority prioritise this work, given reduced resources?

Forum members supported the suggestion of the higher standard as a target for the network and accepted that this would be an increasing challenge with reductions in resources and increases in prices. Members discussed the possibility of identifying alternative funding and working with volunteers and volunteer organisations. It was agreed to return to this issue following the feedback from the survey in Summer 2023, at which point the PDNPA will look more closely at the issues in order to provide recommendations from the LAF.