‘Outdoors For All’ – CPRE joins leading organisations supporting manifesto

‘Outdoors For All’ – CPRE joins leading organisations supporting manifesto - CPRE

Man using mobility aid in the countryside. Image: British Canoeing

Forty two leading national governing bodies and environmental organisations have joined together to support an Outdoors For All manifesto, seeking to extend responsible access to more green and blue landscapes.

Signatories include representatives from paddlesport, swimming, horse riding, climbing, rambling, wheeling, flying and many more. The manifesto also has the support of National Trust, The Canal & Rivers Trust, The Wildlife Trust and Campaign For National Parks.

The government has set its sights on getting 3.5m more people active by 2030, through its ‘Get Active’ Strategy. It has also committed to giving the public access to green and blue spaces within a 15-minute walk of home, through its Environmental Improvement Plan.

The Outdoors For All manifesto argues that to meet these targets, rights to responsibly access the outdoors must be expanded.

Less than 4% of rivers in England have an uncontested public right of access. The path network is frequently inaccessible and 19.6m people do not live within a 15-minute walk of green and blue spaces.

Access land which gives us our current and limited right to roam covers just 8% of England. This right extends only to those on foot and excludes others such as equestrians, paddlers and cyclists.

Physical inactivity is associated with 1 in 6 deaths in the UK and is estimated to cost the country £7.4bn annually (including £0.9bn to the NHS). Our population is 20% less active than in the 1960s and is forecast to be 30% less active by 2030. It is estimated that good access to green and blue spaces would save an astonishing £2.1bn in health spending every year.