YP Comment: Path problems

Yet there is a disconnect between the laudable ambition of encouraging young and old alike into the glorious landscapes of our national parks and failing to provide sufficient funding for the upkeep of the paths through them.

The scale of this problem is set out in today’s Ramblers’ Big Pathwatch survey, which makes for worrying reading. It is a matter of serious concern that getting on for 6,000 paths in Yorkshire have problems, but hardly surprising given that the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales national parks have suffered budget cuts of 40 per cent over the past five years.

Landowners and volunteers who have stepped in to maintain the rights of way network are due a vote of thanks for their work, but in the long term to expect them to shoulder the burden of responsibility is unfair.

It has been a failing of successive governments to apparently believe that the countryside will look after itself. That is not the case. A realistic level of funding and a great deal of hard work are necessary for the national parks to thrive.

Maintaining access to them through well-maintained pathways is central to the public’s enjoyment of the parks, whether for leisure or the benefit of their health. The Government would do well to study the survey’s findings and consider what it can do to improve matters.

Why your right to walk could fall victim to austerity