Friends of the DPA, the Open Spaces Society, have publicly called for the next Prime Minister to act for public access as a matter of urgency.

‘Nearly every other Labour Prime Minister has overseen important new laws which improved public access. We have had the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (Clement Attlee), the Countryside Act 1968 (Harold Wilson), the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (Tony Blair), and the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (Gordon Brown)—each taking a big stride forward. Only the government led by James Callaghan seems to have missed expanding public access.’ So declared the society’s chairman, Phil Wadey, at the society’s annual general meeting on the 2nd of July.

‘We shall shortly have a new Prime Minister, and it is time to remind those in government of some of our requests,’ Phil continued.

‘For instance, we have asked that previous commitments to provide green or blue space within 15 minutes’ walk of everyone’s homes be turned into practice, and for a consultation on new access legislation. We want an Access Bill that would give more and better access close to people’s homes, and for top-tier councils to have a duty to enforce against unlawful encroachments on commons.’

Common land is land subject to, or formerly subject to, rights of common—to graze animals or collect wood for instance—or waste land of the manor not subject to rights. The public has the right to walk on nearly all commons, and to ride on many.  Commons are protected in that works on common land require the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. Although it is unlawful to encroach on common land, no one has a duty to take action against this.

Phil added, ‘It is vital that the government implements its December 2024 promise to repeal the Path Extinguishment Day provisions so as to prevent the loss of public rights from the hundreds of miles of unrecorded and under-recorded rights of way. This is urgent because any change of government could mean that the path extinguishment happens on 1 January 2031, less than five years away.’

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 imposed a guillotine of the 1st January 2026 on the claim of unrecorded public paths.  The previous government set this back to 2031. The current government has announced that it will repeal it completely, so that paths can continue to be claimed in perpetuity. This is vital because there are hundreds of paths yet to be claimed, and with a guillotine our rights to use them would be lost for ever.

‘Promises made 18 months ago to act are not suitable substitutes for taking that action. We call on the next Prime Minister to move without delay,’ Phil concluded.