Getting to Zero
England’s green and pleasant land is a treasured feature of our national life. There are thousands of parks and greenspaces, a network of 140,000 miles of footpaths and rights of way, 34 national landscapes, 15 national trails and ten national parks. But access to nature is unequal across England.
Walk on the Wild Side reveals especially poor access across eastern England – from the East Riding of Yorkshire, through Lincolnshire and the East Midlands to Norfolk. Half of local authorities in the worst 10% for access to nature are in eastern England. Numerous local greenspace ‘notspots’ exist around the country too, in locations such as Blackpool, Darlington and Southend-on-Sea.
Wildlife and Countryside Link’s Area Access Index by Lower Layer Super Output Area
Disparities in greenspace provision are also demographic. Ethnic minorities, younger people, and those living in more deprived areas are much less likely to have greenspaces within easy walking distance.
Overcoming these disparities is critical because good access to nature can deliver substantial benefits to people, places and the planet. Greenspaces save the NHS over £110 million per year from fewer GP visits alone, and £2.1 billion of annual health costs could be saved if all of England had good access to nature. Plus parks and greenspaces are the greatest source of pride in their local area. Those with high quality nature in their surroundings are much more likely to be satisfied with their neighbourhood.
Limited public rights of way
In most rural areas, the public rights of way network is extensive. But in eastern England it is far more limited — partly due to large areas of high-grade farmland on the eastern coast but also because Lincolnshire has the largest backlog for recognition of historical but unrecorded rights of way, with over 450 outstanding applications.
Farmers are also not sufficiently incentivised to provide rights of way by the new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs). Access payment options form less than 1% of all Countryside Stewardship agreements.
Nature not prioritised in urban areas
In towns and cities, low provision of greenspace is typically driven by local authorities failing to prioritise nature in planning decisions.
Lack of facilities and poor accessibility
Other barriers are limiting access to nature. A quarter of people who don’t visit greenspaces are put off by a lack of facilities, including toilets and benches. Physical barriers, such as stiles and busy roads without pedestrian access are preventing people from visiting nature, particularly the disabled and the elderly.
Recommendation 1: Create a new North Sea National Trail to provide greater access to nature in eastern England.
Recommendation 2: Tackle local nature ‘notspots’ by increasing public rights of way, harnessing the planning system and utilising innovative finance solutions.
Recommendation 2.1: In rural areas with low access to nature, local authorities should create new access rights by accelerating the review of historical public rights of way.
Recommendation 2.2: DEFRA should incentivise farmers and landowners to create more rural access by improving its Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) grant offer.
Recommendation 2.3: Local authorities should harness the planning system to support the creation of new accessible greenspaces in new developments.
Recommendation 2.4: Local authorities should explore innovative ways to invest in local nature, including securing finance from the National Wealth Fund.
Recommendation 3: Encourage more visits to nature by ‘prescribing a park’, supporting children to build connections with nature, and ensuring parks are pleasant, safe spaces.
Recommendation 3.1: The NHS should ‘prescribe a park’ to help more people get the benefits of nature for their physical and mental health.
Recommendation 3.2: The Department for Education should enable children and young people to become aware of and visit nature with a new ‘Nature’s Classroom’ programme.
Recommendation 3.3: Police forces should address the concerns which can put people off visiting nature by boosting neighbourhood policing in greenspaces.
Recommendation 4: Revamp access to nature metrics so they are fit for purpose for the countryside.
Limited public rights of way
In most rural areas, the public rights of way network is extensive. But in eastern England it is far more limited — partly due to large areas of high-grade farmland on the eastern coast but also because Lincolnshire has the largest backlog for recognition of historical but unrecorded rights of way, with over 450 outstanding applications.
Farmers are also not sufficiently incentivised to provide rights of way by the new Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs). Access payment options form less than 1% of all Countryside Stewardship agreements.
Nature not prioritised in urban areas
In towns and cities, low provision of greenspace is typically driven by local authorities failing to prioritise nature in planning decisions.
Lack of facilities and poor accessibility
Other barriers are limiting access to nature. A quarter of people who don’t visit greenspaces are put off by a lack of facilities, including toilets and benches. Physical barriers, such as stiles and busy roads without pedestrian access are preventing people from visiting nature, particularly the disabled and the elderly.
Recommendation 1: Create a new North Sea National Trail to provide greater access to nature in eastern England.
Recommendation 2: Tackle local nature ‘notspots’ by increasing public rights of way, harnessing the planning system and utilising innovative finance solutions.
Recommendation 2.1: In rural areas with low access to nature, local authorities should create new access rights by accelerating the review of historical public rights of way.
Recommendation 2.2: DEFRA should incentivise farmers and landowners to create more rural access by improving its Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMs) grant offer.
Recommendation 2.3: Local authorities should harness the planning system to support the creation of new accessible greenspaces in new developments.
Recommendation 2.4: Local authorities should explore innovative ways to invest in local nature, including securing finance from the National Wealth Fund.
Recommendation 3: Encourage more visits to nature by ‘prescribing a park’, supporting children to build connections with nature, and ensuring parks are pleasant, safe spaces.
Recommendation 3.1: The NHS should ‘prescribe a park’ to help more people get the benefits of nature for their physical and mental health.
Recommendation 3.2: The Department for Education should enable children and young people to become aware of and visit nature with a new ‘Nature’s Classroom’ programme.
Recommendation 3.3: Police forces should address the concerns which can put people off visiting nature by boosting neighbourhood policing in greenspaces.
Recommendation 4: Revamp access to nature metrics so they are fit for purpose for the countryside.
Steve Barclay, former Environment Secretary, says: “The benefits both to people and to wider society of nature are, in my view, beyond doubt. But there have been clear impediments within government due to a lack of clear evaluation data to help decisions — especially during spending reviews. We’ve seen a lot of pilot schemes to improve access to nature. But as this great report argues, it’s time to move to larger-scale schemes and make better use of data to strengthen the case for nature to help our health service.”
Ed Winfield, Onward policy fellow, says: “England’s green spaces are a great source of national and local pride. But for many, nature is too far away or too difficult to access. Creating a new North Sea National Trail across eastern England will address the country’s most significant access to nature gap, while other initiatives such as recording historic rights of way and integrating nature into planning decisions can overcome local nature ‘notspots’.”
Ned Hammond, Onward’s Head of Energy and Environment, said: “Visiting nature provides substantial health benefits, which can reduce the burden on a strained NHS. Encouragingly, visits to greenspaces have risen markedly in the last decade, but there are still nearly ten million people who rarely access nature. Expanding Green Social Prescribing across the country will encourage more people to spend time in nature, improving the nation’s health and supporting the public finances.”
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