ABSTRACT
As indicated earlier, the designation of a national park does not change the ownership of land, nor does it confer an automatic right of access by the general public. Public access is the subject of access agreements, or orders, or the creation of a public right of way. Access agreements are entered into by the authority and the individual landowners and are usually drawn up for a 20 year period. The authority makes an annual payment to the landowner ‘in consideration of the making of an agreement and by way of a contribution towards the expenditure incurred by the person making the agreement in consequence thereof’. The government is currently intending to introduce legislation designed to facilitate ‘a right to roam’ and details of its content and the effect upon access are awaited.
