How the new Countryside Code is reigniting the access debate

IN THE WAKE of a post-pandemic surge of interest in outdoor activities, Natural England has released new advice to landowners under the Countryside Code.

The recommendations – which include cutting overgrown vegetation from access routes, restoring rights of way after cultivation, and using friendly language in signs – have been welcomed by both the Ramblers and the British Mountaineering Council. It follows on from a relaunch of the Countryside Code aimed at walkers and countryside visitors in April last year.

“The pandemic has shown that more and more people want to walk in the countryside,” says James