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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure the Access to Nature Green Paper includes provisions for increased public access to unregulated inland waterways.

This Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors and the benefits of blue spaces for people’s health and wellbeing.

As set out in the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025, Defra will explore the feasibility of increasing access onto unregulated inland waterways and will consult on this in the Access to Nature Green Paper to be published during this Parliamentary term. Defra is committed to working with stakeholders as this work develops.