The Government is committed to protecting, enhancing and expanding access to national trails. Let us think of other countries. The Camino de Santiago starts in France and goes through Spain.

A friend is currently following one of the long-distance paths in Portugal on a bike, finding out about the hills not shown on the map; the map is two dimensional but there are three dimensions out there.

The grand routes in France - such as the GR20, or Grand Route Vingt, which bisects Corsica - are epic, long-distance, mythical trails that connect us to thousands of years of human history.

Every town and constituency in this country has a Green Lane that was literally a green lane. It is important to protect them, not just for inclusive access for local people and the benefits to tourism, but because they say something important and cultural about the human condition, heritage and history.

Mary Creagh is Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

placeholder image — Mary Creagh is Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

We have 16 national trails across England and Wales. As the former MP for Wakefield, I know and dearly love the Pennine Way. We always had a new year’s day walk; we would drag the children out, complaining and then they would find an animal skull and spend the rest of the walk asking what it was and whether they could put it in their pocket.

We showed them the Ladybower reservoir where the Dambusters practised for their assault on Germany. Those are iconic, special places that have a heritage in the hearts of local people whose forefathers and foremothers did the Kinder trespass, coming up from Sheffield and Manchester to assert their right to access those beautiful landscapes.

The Pennine trail up and down the backbone of England offers incredible views over the Peak district and the Yorkshire dales. The South Downs Way runs between Winchester and Beachy Head for more than 100 miles. Those trails are vital public assets that promote wellbeing, health and tourism. It was the previous Labour Government that started work on the vision of an England coastal path, which will be completed under this Government. The King Charles III England Coast Path will be completed next year, an incredible infrastructure achievement.

Since 2009, successive Governments have invested £25.6m in the planning and establishment of the coastal trail. Successive Governments have recognised the value it will have in connecting communities, landscapes and coastlines, and boosting rural economies. It will be a really important part of rural economic growth.

Coast paths generate a huge amount for local economies. Research has shown that more than £300m has been spent in local economies by people walking on England coast paths, directly supporting almost 6,000 full-time equivalent jobs.

This Government has backed its commitment to access with action.

Since 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has invested £2.5m into the protected landscapes partnership, which brings together the National Landscapes Association, National Parks England, National Trails UK and Natural England. The partnership focuses on enhancing access and ensuring that our trails have a real impact on people, nature and climate.

One of the most innovative projects under the partnership is the coastal wildbelt project, which is being led by National Trails UK. It focuses on the coastal margin adjacent to the England coast path. Our pilots will identify innovative ways to connect the public with this coastal area around the country.

An abridged version of a speech in the Parliament by Mary Creagh, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.