The Ramblers is calling on the government to set up a charity to administer England’s national walking trails, as the new Canal and River Trust does for the country’s waterways.
The walking charity insists that a charitable National Trails Trust is the only way to ensure that the 13 long-distance walking routes are adequately protected and developed for future generations. It envisages that Local Trail Trusts also be established to help manage the trails in each local area.
The 13 trails are currently administered by the Natural England quango on behalf of the government, but it now proposes to hand control over to local authorities.
The Ramblers warn that this plan poses a risk that the upkeep of the trails will fall victim to higher priorities within stretched local-government budgets, and that the quality of the trails could seriously decline.
Benedict Southworth, the Ramblers’ chief executive, said the national trails – such as Hadrian’s Wall Path and the South Downs Way (pictured) - are already visited by 12 million walkers each year, yet there is enormous potential to attract more, and thereby boost rural economies by millions of pounds.
“Current proposals risk relegating these historic routes to the garden path rather than the world-renowned attractions they should be,” he said.
The Ramblers say that the 2,500 miles of national trails have the potential to connect rural businesses, tourists and local people, bringing tourism money into struggling rural areas and encouraging local people to volunteer.
Ramblers is 'natural guardian' of new charity
The Ramblers claims that it is the “natural guardian” of a new national charity for the national trails, as it was instrumental in creating many of the trails in the first place.
“We are offering to bring our aspiration, experience and resources to help set up a charitable trust which can ensure our national trails have a fantastic future,” Southworth said.
The idea has generated support from the Outdoor Industries Association, the British Council for Archaeology, the British Horse Society, Sport and Recreation Alliance, Long Distance Walkers Association and the National Cycling Charity.
The Ramblers has outlined its campaign in a report called National trails: a fantastic future, which it published on the same day that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs issued its new Rural Statement.
The Rural Statement makes no mention of the national trails, and the Ramblers say Defra is “missing a trick” by not seeing their huge potential economic value to rural areas.
The charity is now hoping that the government will respond to its campaign.
