HL Deb 26 February 2001 vol 622 cc114-5WA
Lord Greaves

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made on the mapping of access land under Part I of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, including in particular—

  1. (a) the appointment of consultants or agents to carry out the mapping;
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  2. (b) the definition of areas in England for the first or pilot mapping programmes;
  3. (c) regulations for the mapping of access land; and
  4. (d) the setting up of local access forums. [HL786]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)

The Countryside Agency let a contract in January this year for the mapping of open country and registered common land. The agency has identified two lead mapping areas, in the north west and south east of England. The north west area includes Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and the Peak District National Park. The south east area includes Kent, Surrey, East and West Sussex and the outer London boroughs which border this area. The Countryside Agency expects to publish for consultation draft maps for these lead areas in the autumn.

The Government are currently drafting regulations for the mapping of access land and the establishment of local access forums, and we expect to consult on such regulations before the summer. Once these regulations have been made, access authorities will be under a duty to establish forums under Part V of the Act.