Outdoor Sport and Recreation

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Wednesday 10th September 2014 Westminster Hall

[David Rutley (Macclesfield) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. Having lived in St Albans, I know that there are some wonderful walks around the city and elsewhere in Hertfordshire.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies)—my hon. Friend—on securing this debate and making a terrific speech, with real enthusiasm and a clear sense of purpose and direction. It was clearly grounded in his experience in the world of work before coming to the House and as a Minister. I congratulate him on what he said and agree with just about all of it, except for his comment that Pembrokeshire and that part of the world is the best, when, clearly, other hon. Members would feel that Yorkshire or Cheshire, or other parts of the country, were better. But there we go.

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

And Kent.

[David Rutley]

Kent, I hear, too. However, we will see. Hon. Members will have their chance to make those points in due course.

I declare an interest up front, as the co-chair of the all-party group on mountaineering. I refer hon. Members to the register of all-party groups. I am also a vice-chair of the all-party group on mountain rescue and a secretary of the all-party group on national parks. Most importantly, I am the Member of Parliament for Macclesfield, one of the great constituencies of this country. It is a beautiful constituency where the Cheshire peak comes together with the Peak district. It is well worth a visit, and I encourage everybody to come along.

I thank the Sports Minister for attending. She is passionate about sport, having been a prolific sportsperson herself in the past, and appreciates the importance of outdoor activities. We were fortunate enough to meet Andrew Denton, the chairman of the Outdoor Industries Association, to talk about many of the things we are discussing today. I hope that, given that enthusiasm, at a future meeting the Minister will change her title from Minister for Sport to Minister for Sport and Outdoor Activities. That would only be appropriate.

Positive progress has been made in recent weeks and months. The creation of the England coast path is a major step forward and positive development and there is a clear timetable to make that happen. I am delighted that that is moving forward; it is a key element of the six key proposals that have been put together by the outdoor organisations, which the hon. Member for Ogmore has already discussed. Furthermore, it is good news for walkers across the country and for climbers.

I know that representatives from the British Mountaineering Council are here. It is important to recognise that the spreading room—the margin between the path and the sea itself—is vital for outdoor activities and, in particular, climbers. The important thing for the communities on that route is that footfall will increase, which will help boost the rural economy in those areas. The key ask today is for an overarching strategy for the outdoors—a sense of direction and a clear plan of action, co-ordinated by a body that can not only fine-tune the shaping of that, but go out and work with the Minister and Sport England to deliver it. There are many other things that we will talk about today, but that is the key ask.

I will put things into context, because the issues we are discussing are vital for our nation and critical for the rural economy in several ways. First, on participation, the Olympic legacy is absolutely critical to this country, and there is more we can do—perhaps in ways that the originators of the Olympic bid did not envisage. There are other ways of getting people to be physically active. We have to tackle physical inactivity; it is putting pressure on our health services and threatens the health of multiple generations. Secondly, as we have already said, there is the importance of tourism, particularly to these rural areas.

I am co-chairman of the all-party group on mountaineering, and we have been working hard with a wide range of MPs and, for that matter, peers in taking the agenda forward. As we look for how to bring about greater success, it is important to reflect on the success that cycling has seen in recent years. It has been an incredibly well articulated campaign that has engaged the public, not just with the elite sport itself, but with mass participation.

I saw that this Sunday at the Bollington BikeFest. Some 300 people turned up to do cycling events, which ranged in length from 20 miles to 75 miles. It was organised by Macclesfield Lions club. We have to build on the success of cycling, because organised sport, as far as I can see, is only one element of the equation, and we have to go beyond that. The focus should not just be on sports, but on a much wider range of outdoor activities. As the hon. Member for Ogmore said, it is often easier and cheaper to participate in outdoor activities, so we should promote them. Walking is a great example. In east Cheshire, our ramblers group has 700 members, and we can do even better in building that membership base.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

It is a pleasure as always to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) on securing this important debate. My interest in the outdoors and sport goes back to my childhood. I am part of the pre-console and pre-computer generation, who spent their entire time outside, playing in the fresh air. In fact, I had to be dragged back inside, most evenings, to do my homework or eat my tea.

I grew up in Hythe, near the Kent coast. On one side of the house, there was a canal that we constantly tried to cross using items from the garage. An area of hills called the Roughs was an adventure ground for us. It is also a military training site, so we spent most of our time picking up empty shells and wondering whether they were dangerous. We were close to the sea, and the entire estate where I lived was a huge playground. I learned to play football, cricket and American football. In fact, I was a happy, healthy tomboy.

The upside of being part of a pre-computer generation was that we were outside all the time. The downside was that many of the clubs and organisations that exist today to support youngsters did not exist when I was growing up. As many hon. Members know, I am the manager of a girls’ football team. I am proud to have been involved with Meridian girls football club for the past eight years. That kind of network of grass-roots support was not there when I was growing up, and we should be grateful for the important investment in sporting facilities that we now have. It is a fantastic legacy of the national lottery started under John Major’s Government and expanded under the Labour Government. It is important to protect such investment in sporting facilities.

The freedom of the outdoors lies not just in the fact that people can go out and explore their environment, but in the fact that it costs little to do so. I was interested in the comments of the hon. Member for Worsley and Eccles South (Barbara Keeley). She will know that I agree with much of what she said, not least because I serve on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which produced the report on women in sport. However, women are as likely as men to take part in outdoor recreation. Getting out into the environment, exploring villages, paths and hills, is an activity accessible to everyone, and it should be encouraged.

I am proud to be a Kent girl, and now represent an area of Kent quite far from the coast but that has a wonderful river running through it. It borders the Minister’s constituency. We have an excellent pathway, which will be upgraded thanks to a recent South East local enterprise partnership decision. We will have a full cycle path from Aylesford to East Farleigh. That will be a brilliant opportunity for people to get out along the river and see the fantastic wildlife. We also have a project called Medway Valley of Visions, which has opened up the entire Kent area of outstanding natural beauty for people to walk or cycle in and experience the benefits of the outdoors.

We have an excellent ramblers association, with 115 members in my constituency, and they have invited me to go out on many occasions. Unfortunately, they go out on a Sunday when—guess what?—I am standing at the side of a football pitch with my young girls, so it is not always possible for me to accept. However, the North Downs way and Pilgrims way run through my constituency.

When I was in training for the expedition—one that has nearly killed me—that my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley) mentioned, in which I participated with the hon. Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland), going up Cotopaxi, one of the world’s highest volcanoes, I got into training by just going out of my door and hill walking. Hill walking is very different from mountaineering, and I intend never to do the latter again, despite what I am sure will be the best efforts of my colleagues. I will stick to football, rather than mountaineering.

There are nevertheless many opportunities out there, and we must protect and invest in them. That is why I wanted to speak today. I was touched by the key proposals sent to us for Government action on the outdoors. I do not think that they are necessarily politically controversial. As someone who grew up outside, the idea of increasing young people’s opportunities to get outside seems to me a no-brainer. Being outdoors, as my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart) said, enables people to concentrate in class and gives them educational opportunities.

The hon. Member for Ogmore set out the six principles well, and I want to talk about planning. In my constituency, we have a planning application to build 500 houses over the Capstone valley. The valley is an area of outstanding natural beauty; it is a green lull between the Medway towns and Maidstone. It would be a desperate shame if we started to build on that and interfere with our wonderful outdoor environment, which serves our ramblers and conservationists, people who are interested in the wildlife and those who simply want to go for a run around the perimeter. We need to look at planning guidance to ensure that we protect areas that actually bring in an income through the fact that people are getting out there—tourists and people spending in the local economy—because they are using what is in essence a free asset for society.

I am sure that the Minister is aware of such issues. It is important that she takes a co-ordinated approach across central and local government. If we do not do something to protect things, the £91 million that the NHS spends every 24 hours on lifestyle-related chronic conditions will merely increase. The health and economic benefits are obvious. Not everyone wants to do sport—I get that. I want to do sports; I am a sports fanatic, but outdoor recreation is something that is open to everyone and something that they should have access to now and in future generations.

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Main. I congratulate the hon. Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) on securing the debate.

I am the Member of Parliament for High Peak, which, as I often say, is the most beautiful constituency in the country—that will be disputed, but I have not had an intervention yet—and the outdoors is what we do. I am a little older than my hon. Friend the Member for Chatham and Aylesford (Tracey Crouch), but I echo what she was saying. I grew up before computers and—

[Tracey Crouch]

TVs.

[Andrew Bingham]

Not quite before television. I might look that old, but I assure the Chamber that I am not. I was going to say that we were the “jumpers for goalposts” generation, when we were always outside, playing football in winter and cricket in the summer. I can tell my hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire (Simon Hart) that I have indeed made a daisy chain as a small boy, but I will not embarrass the young lady I gave it to by naming her. We used to do so much outside, whether collecting frogspawn or climbing trees and things like that. Consequently, we were healthier for it. That is why the outdoors is so important.

High Peak is a beautiful area. In many respects, we can be the playground of the nation. I am lucky; I live in Chapel-en-le-Frith; I open my front door and I see hills and green fields. Custodians of such fields were mentioned earlier, and they are incredibly important. Fields and outdoor areas do not simply happen; we have to thank the custodians and the farmers for doing what they do. It is a huge playground that people can use and that is completely free. That is such a benefit.

Among the outdoors pursuits that take place in High Peak was the Tour de France, which touched my constituency recently, creating a huge increase in cycling, as mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (David Rutley). On the subject of my hon. Friend, he accompanied me down a pothole in my constituency recently. I proceeded to get stuck briefly, but having lost a bit of weight, I am sure that we could go down again and I will slither easily through that tight gap. Potholing and caving also bring huge numbers of people into High Peak. They come to High Peak; they spend their money; they benefit the economy; and more than that, they benefit themselves. Anyone who takes part in outdoor pursuits is the main beneficiary, because of the health that they bring.

Two weeks ago, I undertook to hike around the boundary of my constituency, which is approximately 65 miles, which I did over a few days. The highest point that we got to was about 1,700 feet above sea level; the highest point in my constituency is Kinder Scout at 2,088 feet, so we were not quite at that height. We crossed the Pennine way, which my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) walked last year or the year before. The scenery and the fresh air are so good for people, but they also bring them to my constituency. I go to areas such as Castleton and the Hope valley in the summer and everywhere there are people with maps around their necks, the big boots and what I call the speckly socks, all coming to the Peak district and High Peak to get exercise. That is the important thing.

We hear so much on the health agenda about obesity, particularly among young people. I understand the attractions of Facebook and various computer games, but we need to encourage people to get out and about. We live in a beautiful country, so let us use it and get the benefit. As I said, when doing so, we are also benefiting our local economies. We all talk about deprivation in the inner cities and so on, but I prefer to talk about rural deprivation. As a result of the remoteness, we have to suffer certain things, such as not getting the same number of buses and so on, but we have that fantastic facility on our doorsteps. We should use it to get people back to exercising. The hon. Member for Ogmore mentioned exercise through prescription by doctors and, when I served on the local authority, we used to advocate that where we could. The Government should look at the health benefits.

As has already been said, the debate could have been held under the heading of health, education or the Treasury, but we are having it under sport. There are so many benefits. I am conscious that we are running out of time, so I will not go on too long, but the benefits are immeasurable and the people who benefit the most are those who take part. As Members of Parliament representing seats that all have the benefits of outdoor pursuits, we can encourage people to take part in them.

As I said, my walk last week took me four or five days and touched most parts of my constituency. The interesting thing was the difference in the scenery and the terrain, whether the steep hills coming up over the Snake pass and down into Glossop or the valley of the Goyt. Everywhere we looked was a photograph in the making. As others have said, the air was clear and the weather was reasonably good, which was quite helpful, because we can get a little rain in High Peak. The benefits were immeasurable, and we should try to share them with as many people as possible. The Government should do what they can to encourage people to use what I described before as the playground that we live in. It is there; it is healthy; it is beneficial; and it is free. No one can be excluded from using it; we need only encourage them to do so.