Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with Natural England on options for expanding the freedom to roam to other land types, including woodland and inland waterside.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides for a right to roam across open access land, giving the public a right of access to most areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin. We have no plans to change this. England has an extensive network of footpaths and the public has the ‘right to roam’ over many areas of wild, open countryside.

While we want to increase access to nature, as per Goal 10 of the Environmental Improvement Plan 2023, we also recognise that to restore nature we need to ensure that people can enjoy its beauty responsibly. We also know it is important to recognise the needs of all those who live and work in the countryside.

A broader right to roam would risk trampling rather than protecting our habitats and species, and could also risk harming the livelihoods of our farmers.