Footpath budget cuts 'will hit rural economy'

MILLIONS of pounds could be taken out of Yorkshire’s rural economy if the maintenance of public rights of way is subjected to cuts, countryside groups have warned.

Campaign groups say they are massively concerned that October’s Comprehensive Spending Review will see already stretched rights of way teams within local authorities unable to manage the country’s footpaths and bridleways.

Walkers groups say that cuts to the way these paths are managed could have a serious impact on tourism if hikers and cyclists decide to stay away from the countryside, while business leaders fear the impact it will have on rural people’s ability to get from A to B.

Walking is worth an estimated 2bn to the country’s economy and supports nearly a quarter of a million jobs.

Organisations such as the Ramblers Association are concerned about the knock-on effects that reduced walker numbers will have in terms of lost trade to rural pubs and bed and breakfasts.

They say some local authorities are already facing backlogs of thousands of enforcement cases where disputes over footpaths have arisen while ranger teams struggle to maintain existing routes.

The Yorkshire regional director of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), Dorothy Fairburn, said: “Our experience with local authorities is that this is an already under-resourced area and we are concerned that any further cuts could have serious implications on the local authority’s ability to deliver an adequate service.

“A properly marked and maintained public rights of way network encourages more people to walk and cycle, which delivers a number of benefits in terms of both local tourism opportunities and promoting a healthier lifestyle.”

Ramblers Association spokeswoman Ruth Somerville told the Yorkshire Post: “Any cuts will mean that it is no longer experts looking at these issues but rather just the local highways departments. This means you get more problems pilling up which ultimately just costs more money for councils.

“The foot and mouth crisis caused the countryside to be pretty much shut down and this affected everybody from accommodation providers to pubs and really just showed us how much money walking brought to the economy.

“It will take its toll obviously. We are talking about issues that effect peoples’ ability to get from A to B.

“The October spending review is likely to threaten rights of way. Already local authorities have started to make cuts to their rights of way teams. At the moment it is just a case of sitting back and waiting.”

Ms Somerville added that scrapping or scaling back rights of way teams would only mean increased costs for councils in terms of legal fees for land disputes and repair bills for existing paths which fall into disrepair.

The teams were created in the 1980s and have proved effective in dealing with rights of way issues across the country.

Sam Borman, chairman of the local ramblers group in the Ryedale area told the Yorkshire Post that the situation inside the nearby North York Moors national park was good, the reason for this being that the national park authority had a bit more money and more people working on it. To the south,

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