This Land is Your Land – Restoring Public Paths Through Nature.

Submitted by: 12 party members
Mover: Elliot Chapman–Jones.
Summation: Bridget Fox.

Conference notes that:

1. Outdoor exercise and recreation leads to healthier lives and saves the NHS billions.
2. Active travel tourism contributes billions to the UK economy and supports millions of jobs.
3. 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 which led to the creation of Britain’s 15 national parks and public rights of way; the basis for this legislation was put together by a Liberal MP, Arthur Hobhouse, who chaired the National Parks Committee.
4. Access to nature is declining whilst inequality of access is increasing, with far fewer public paths in the most deprived areas.
5. Walking, wheeling and cycling improve public health, the environment and our economy.
6. Voie Verte have created tens of thousands of miles worth of public rights of way across Europe from disused railways, canal and river towpaths, utility company rights of way and derelict industrial land.
7. Over 2,300 railway stations, 5,000 miles of track, were closed in the Beeching cuts during the 1960s.
8. Almost 32,000 public rights of way are obstructed and the number of path blockages is increasing year on year, according to a BBC investigation.
9. The UK is one of the most nature–depleted countries in the world, one of the least densely forested countries in Europe and in Britain one in six species are threatened with extinction.
10. Waiting lists for allotments in the UK have risen steeply, with the average wait time at over three years, and up to 15 year waits in some cases.
11. The actions of the Conservatives in Government fell ‘far short’ of what was required to leave the environment in a better state than they found it, according to the Office for Environmental Protection.
12. The Conservative Government cut the active travel budget; the Labour Government has not fully reversed these cuts.
13. Public bodies, local authorities, farmers and community groups do not have sufficient resources to improve access to nature and public rights of way.

Conference believes that:

1. Everybody should have access to a healthy environment; the beauty of Britain’s coastlines, rivers, lakes, woodlands and open green spaces.
2. Thousands of miles worth of public rights of way could be:
   1. Created with the transformation of disused railways, canal routes, airfields and disused industrial land.
   2. Recovered with more support for local and public authorities and community groups.
3. Local authorities and national park authorities have a critical role in unlocking the potential of protected landscapes for public access, health and education, along with nature’s recovery but require adequate funding to maximise these benefits.
4. Our protected landscapes are key to the restoration of our natural environment.
5. We must support farmers to develop world-leading practices for sustainable land management, nature restoration and tackling climate change while continuing their primary function to boost Britain’s food security.

Conference reaffirms Liberal Democrat pledges to:

1. Create new walking, wheeling and cycling networks with a new nationwide active travel strategy.
2. Complete the King Charles III England Coast Path and designate 16 new National Trails, thereby doubling the current total.
3. Create a new designation of National Nature Parks, working with existing National Parks and National Landscapes to improve nature recovery and transform them into National Nature Parks, with stronger duties on National Park Authorities to create and protect carbon sinks.
4. Double woodland cover by 2050 in England to improve air quality and enrich habitats and public spaces and empower Local Nature Recovery Strategies to identify a new Wild Belt for nature’s recovery.
5. Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our environment and enforce environmental laws.
6. Properly fund Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) with £1 billion extra a year to support farmers with the restoration of woodlands, peatlands and waterways, the creation of natural flood protections and the management of land to recover species and store carbon while also recognising food production as a vital public good.
7. Create a legal guarantee for fair and equitable access to nature and pass a Clean Air Act.
8. Ensure local authorities can maintain and more easily upgrade existing rights of way and process requests for new rights of way which provide legal protections for public use of paths.
9. Integrate nature and active and public travel in planning so that new development connects people, promotes healthier living, restores nature and boosts the economy.
10. Work with our European neighbours to tackle the nature crisis, including applying to join the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Conference resolves to:

1. Create thousands of miles worth of new public rights of way by turning former railway lines into paths for walkers, cyclists and horse riders by:
   1. Introducing a national legal framework to make grassroot campaigns for new trails more successful, speedy and easy, whilst making sure landowners are fairly compensated.
   2. Learning lessons from the creation of Voie Verte across Europe.
2. Provide incentives, including a long-term fund, to encourage local authorities, public bodies and Government to turn over disused land (including railway sidings, disused airfields and derelict industrial land) to local communities for public use, including walking, wheeling and cycling routes, community gardens, allotments, ponds and green spaces.
3. Promote outdoor education, with the aim of ensuring every child is offered at least one outdoor education experience during primary school years and at least one such experience during secondary school years so that residential outdoor learning is part of the school curriculum and central to the Government’s Youth Strategy.
4. Improve the surface of canal and river towpaths for habitats and public use, working with the Canal and River Trust and building on the success of fibreways.
5. Refresh, update and popularise the Countryside Code to improve public awareness about how to treat the countryside with respect.

Applicability: England except for J. (lines 92–94) which are Federal.

Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes. For eligibility and procedure for speaking in this debate, see pages 6-7 of the agenda. You can submit a speaker's card online here from Monday 15 September up to 16.25 Sunday 21 September or in person.

The deadline for amendments to this motion is 13.00 Monday 8 September; you can submit amendments online here, see pages 9–10 of the agenda for more information. Those selected for debate will be printed in Conference Extra and Sunday’s Conference Daily. The deadline for requests for separate votes is 09.00 Saturday 20 September; you can request separate votes here, see page 5 of the agenda for more information.