Right to roam act comes into force...

THIS year heralds a host of new access rights for Lake District walkers as the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 comes into force throughout Cumbria.

The Act creates a new legal right to roam over areas mapped as open land and registered common land. Open land is classified as mountain, heath, moor or down.

Although the Act was passed in 2000, it did not come into force as law immediately as all open country and common land had to be mapped first, and any appeals from landowners heard.

So far the legislation has given people a new legal "right to roam" on land classified as open country in three areas of England. The South East and the lower North West were opened up in September 2004 and Central Southern England on December 14.

Over the coming months the rest of the country is set to follow with open country and common land in the upper North West, including Cumbria, be opened up in May 2005.

However, walkers will not have the right to access all areas of open land or registered common land. Some areas have been classified as "excepted" land. This includes land within 20 metres of a dwelling, gardens and land which has been disturbed in the last 12 months for growing crops or trees. For a full list visit http://ramblers.org.uk/ freedom/excepted.html Kendal area access officer for the Ramblers Association, Colin Rowley, explained that walkers in the area would have the opportunity to enjoy routes that had been previously closed off.

"This is something that we have been campaigning for for many years, although in the Lake District we are rather spoilt for walks in this area anyway.

"But the act will still open up new walks to enjoy around the area and I expect the Ramblers will be holding celebratory walks on these routes when the Act comes into force," he said.

But Mr Rowley stressed that it was important to bear in mind that the new areas of access land were only open to people on foot. Walkers should take care not to damage boundary walls belonging to farmers when passing from each section of access land to the next, he added.

For more information about the CROW Act, visit the Countryside Agency's website at www.countryside.gov.uk