Report - Section 6.5

6.5   National Patterns of Use and Demand

In November 2000, Entec UK Ltd undertook a household survey throughout England on behalf of the Countryside Agency to establish national patterns for use of, and demand for, rights of way.

In this study the term ‘rights of way network’ encompassed the whole network of provision that individuals may use in undertaking an activity, rather than just those legally defined as public rights of way.

The table below shows that for horse riders, the most commonly used routes are bridleways and other open areas, while other roads, permissive routes, other tracks and green lanes receive use from about a fifth of horse riders. (In many areas, these tracks have been ‘lost’ due to blockages, tipping, erosion etc.)

Table 6.7: Proportion of households where 1 or more people undertake the activity in the countryside using particular types of route

Type of route used	Horse-riding (%)
Footpaths	7
Country parks/public gardens/National Trust properties etc	14
Other areas of open land	49
Other paths or tracks	23
Bridleways	58
Pavements alongside main roads	8
Canal towpaths	4
Permissive paths or areas	18
Cycle tracks	4
Green lanes	19
Main roads	18
BOATS	4
RUPP	5
Don’t know	4
None of these	-
Number of households where 1 or more undertake the activity	74

Rights of way use and demand study: Entec, unpublished report for Countryside Agency 2001
Multiple responses possible

The ample size achieved for horse-riders is relatively small and the data must be used with some caution.

Focus groups convened as part of the study confirmed that the availability of resource was poorer for higher rights users, with few if any complete off-road routes available. The significance of this was increased for horse-riders who had greater difficulty than cyclists or walkers, due to the increased risk in joining up off-road parts of the network by use of roads or by ‘severance’ due to dangerous road crossings.

One issue raised was that users generally liked some variety in the routes they used. Some of the higher rights users were concerned that they were faced with only one appropriate opportunity. Horse riders would like to have more choice about where they ride; this is important for the education and well being of the horse - and rider.

26% of horse-riders admitted to inappropriate use of PROWs in the countryside (cyclists 34%, off-road motor sports 28%). In many cases, those involved in inappropriate uses stated that it was only to allow them to complete circular routes that were available to on-foot users. Walkers clearly have the greatest choice of routes. Such inappropriate use could be seen as evidence of unsatisfied demand for routes of sufficient quality and quantity.

The use and demand study presented and trialled two methods for assessing adequacy of provision. In order to do this, they proposed a set of basic standards for different users. The suggested basic standard for off-road horse-riding was: "Routes of 3 to 10km starting at stables/livery yards with 5 or more horses and maximum 20% on public roads, all lower than ’C class’; area access contributes to route total."

The report concluded that further investigation of the standards required by those groups that have relatively fewer participants, but nonetheless are legitimate user groups, would be beneficial, along with investigation of the needs of visitors.

The recommendation was made that further targeted data collection is undertaken for horse-riding, to provide a fuller understanding of:

• the proportion who want to ride in the countryside rather than just indoor schools;
• distances typically covered on journeys;
• their willingness to ride on roads for part of the route.