Report - Section 6.7

6.7   Instruments for provision of new off-road access

Public policy may seek to increase the provision of access to the countryside through a variety of means, including:

• Adjustment of property rights through legislation eg CROW;
• Taxation - public access in mitigation of capital or inheritance tax;
• Cross-compliance - linking the right to receipt of agricultural support with provision of public access;
• Public purchase and access agreements.

A number of such instruments have been in operation for some time. Nigel Curry has produced an estimate of net new growth in access supply in England and Wales between 1990 and 1997, broken down by type of access as follows:

Table 6.8: Estimate of growth in access supply in England and Wales

Type of access	Net new access
	Area (ha)	Linear (km)
Countryside stewardship	10,519	686
Tir Cymen	25,935	41
ESA access	42
Countryside Access scheme	1195
Woodland Grant Scheme/Farm Woodland Premium Scheme	24,202
Community woodland supplement	3288
Inland revenue agreements	?	210
Other written agreements	82932	1978
Access with no formal agreement	314852	17492
Total	463965	20408

Derived from CLA survey (Curry, 1998) with additions from MAFF (1999)

The data does not distinguish between the various user rights, so it is impossible to tell how much of this has provided additional access for horse-riding. Certainly, Countryside Stewardship agreements have been used to provide access on horseback.