Rights of Way Improvement Plan
Every highway authority in England is now required to prepare and publish a Rights of Way Improvement Plan ( RoWIP ) for its area by November 2007. The plan must be reviewed at not more than ten-year intervals. Government have advised that the RoWIP will be incorporated into the Local Transport Plan ( LTP ) to ensure that the contribution made by the Public Rights of Way network to transport, health, recreation and the economy are fully recognised and considered alongside other initiatives, and to ensure a consistent strategy and reporting procedure. The five authorities within Tyne and Wear; Gateshead, Newcastle City, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland City Councils, agreed to work in partnership and produce one plan to cover all five authority areas. As the Tyne and Wear RoWIP had not been produced in time for the publication of the revised LTP, a progress statement was included in LTP2.
What is the RoWIP?
The Government's guidance to highway authorities on RoWIPs requires that Councils must make an assessment of:
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The extent to which local rights of way meet the present and future needs of the public;
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The opportunities provided by local rights of way (and in particular footpaths, cycle tracks, bridleways and byways) for exercise and other forms of open-air recreation and the enjoyment of the local authority's area;
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The accessibility of local rights of way to blind or partially sighted persons and others with mobility problems;
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Such other matters relating to local rights of way as the Secretary of State may direct.
A Statement Of Action will be included in the Plan, which will set out how the authorities intend to manage and improve local rights of way.
The Tyne and Wear Joint Local Access Forum| will continue to advise the authorities on content for the RoWIP, and they will act as a key consultant for the draft RoWIP.
Previous Work
A consultation undertaken in 2007 examined network provision to establish if/where there are gaps in the Public Rights of Way network, the extent of the provision of routes for users with mobility problems and so on. We contacted businesses, local councillors, organisations and users with a countryside access remit, and also to landowners and elected members to engage these groups further in the RoWIP process. Thank you to everyone who submitted one of our Surveys – the data analysis has now been collated and the subsequent report produced. All the final reports are available for reference or downloading on the right.
The information gathered during this consultation was utilised in conjunction with data obtained at countryside related events, the consultation undertaken as part of the Countryside Agency's Exemplar Rights of Way Improvement Plan Project involving the five authorities in 2004/05 and also data received as part of the information gathering process for the current Local Transport Plan in making the "assessment of needs" to inform the above document.
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 required every highway authority to "prepare a statement of the actions they propose to take for the management of local Public Rights of Way and for securing an improved network of local Public Rights of Way, with particular regard to the matters dealt with in the assessment".
A key issue for the RoWIP was prioritising issues and potential improvements. With a wide range of interest groups, often with conflicting interests, and limited resources, this can be a difficult balance to strike.
Therefore, we invited views from Businesses, Elected Members, Land Managers, Organisations and Users on their priority of proposed actions as part of the statutory consultation on the draft document under the eight sections of:
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SOA1 Making the Countryside More Accessible;
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SOA2 A Safer Activity;
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SOA3 47,000 new homes;
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SOA4 Knowing what's out there;
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SOA5 Filling in the Gaps;
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SOA6 Better Land Management;
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SOA7 Develop Definitive Map and Other Records;
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SOA8 A Better Countryside Environment.
Once the statutory consultation closed the highlighted actions from this process informed the final Statement of Action (SOA ) in conjunction with other related comments received, forming the focus for the improvement and future management of the access network. The SOA priorities will not act in isolation; the management of local access and securing an improved network of local Rights of Way will involve one or more of the SOA priorities and possible solutions in conjunction with the proposed policies outlined throughout the RoWIP.
The final document was formally adopted across Tyne and Wear in November 2007. A copy of the report and the appendices, for downloading, can be found to the right, or if you prefer a summary version leaflet. The plan now offers the Tyne and Wear Authorities and its partners the opportunity to deliver an access network fit for the 21st century. The RoWIP will be at the core of the work we do to enhance and protect the access and rights of way network.
The Next Step
We are currently finalising the annual Action Plan. It is envisaged that the Action Plan will be completed by February 2008. However, much hard work remains to identify the funding sources and lobby government to help make all the planned work a reality.