Scottish style Right to Roam coming to Wales, England next?

Two down, two to go?

Bye, bye no cycling signs

Word on the trail is that the new Wales Environment Minister for the Welsh Assembly is about to announce that Wales is going to adopt Scottish style open access with new ‘Right to Roam’ legislation that will apply to walkers, kayakers and, more importantly for us, mountain bikers.

This follows on from a review of access in 2012 by, what is now, Natural Resources Wales, which sought users views with a White Paper on a proposed piece of legislation called the Active Travel (Wales) Bill.

If you gave them your views it looks like it’s time for a pat on the back.

Once both Scotland and Wales have open access, it’ll be the perfect opportunity to put pressure on England and Northern Ireland to adopt similar legislation. Maybe next week would be a good time to have a chat with your M.P about access.

Updated:

A Welsh Government spokesperson said, “The Minister for Culture and Sport will not be launching open access legislation next week. The Minister is reviewing the current framework for outdoor recreation and access and will make a statement on this later in the year.”

Forum discussion here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/right-to-roam-legislation-for-wales

Bikebiz story here:

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/good-news-for-walkers-mtbers-wales-to-get-right-to-roam-law/015130