Stuart France
Active member
The Welsh Government (WG) Access Reform Advisory Group (ARAG) have categorically decided that caving will not considered by the group. This means that caving will not benefit from any broadening of the scope of the CROW Act 2000 in Wales as a result of the 2017 WG public consultation. It is expected that hang-gliding, wild swimming, horse riding and cycling will all be legalised on Access Land. Currently all these activities are forbidden by Schedule 2 of the Act. Caving is not on any banned list of activities but instead Natural Resources Wales (and equivalent bodies in England) assert that the phrase ?open-air recreation? as used in Section 2 of the CROW Act 2000 does not encompass caving which has the effect of discouraging public visits to caves on Access Land even though they present it as a semantic difference of opinion.
The Welsh Government appears to have forgotten that some major caves in Wales are on Urban Commons, for instance certain Ogof Draenen entrances, Agen Allwedd and Daren Cilau. Access to urban commons is granted by the Law of Property Act 1925 section 193 for ?air and exercise? which trumps the CROW Act 2000 and so the "openness" of any air is then not material. Furthermore, this 1925 Act defines ?land? in a three-dimensional way in Section 205 to include ?mines and minerals whether held apart from the surface ? including any strata or seam of minerals or substances in or under the land?. NRW does not challenge that caving is ?air and exercise? but then they go on to argue that urban common land does not include the caves within that land which seems to be completely at odds with the statutory definition of land in the very Act that grants recreational access to such land.
This is a disappointing and sudden development after five years of engaging in political processes with NRW and WG that had begun to look hopeful. It runs contrary to the whole spirit of what countryside access is meant to be about; to promote enjoyment of our natural resources, physical activity, and all the associated socio-economic and health benefits. BCA and Cambrian Caving Council say they will not be giving up on campaigning for better access on the basis of this one setback.
The decision to drop caving from the reform programme was taken on 22nd January but only delivered in an email a month or so later, with apparently perfect timing just two hours after a meeting of the Outdoor Alliance called by Welsh outdoors recreational bodies to discuss the government?s access reform programme had ended.
http://cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/wg/wgletter-200224.pdf
Stuart France
Conservation and Access Officer
Cambrian Caving Council
The Welsh Government appears to have forgotten that some major caves in Wales are on Urban Commons, for instance certain Ogof Draenen entrances, Agen Allwedd and Daren Cilau. Access to urban commons is granted by the Law of Property Act 1925 section 193 for ?air and exercise? which trumps the CROW Act 2000 and so the "openness" of any air is then not material. Furthermore, this 1925 Act defines ?land? in a three-dimensional way in Section 205 to include ?mines and minerals whether held apart from the surface ? including any strata or seam of minerals or substances in or under the land?. NRW does not challenge that caving is ?air and exercise? but then they go on to argue that urban common land does not include the caves within that land which seems to be completely at odds with the statutory definition of land in the very Act that grants recreational access to such land.
This is a disappointing and sudden development after five years of engaging in political processes with NRW and WG that had begun to look hopeful. It runs contrary to the whole spirit of what countryside access is meant to be about; to promote enjoyment of our natural resources, physical activity, and all the associated socio-economic and health benefits. BCA and Cambrian Caving Council say they will not be giving up on campaigning for better access on the basis of this one setback.
The decision to drop caving from the reform programme was taken on 22nd January but only delivered in an email a month or so later, with apparently perfect timing just two hours after a meeting of the Outdoor Alliance called by Welsh outdoors recreational bodies to discuss the government?s access reform programme had ended.
http://cambriancavingcouncil.org.uk/wg/wgletter-200224.pdf
Stuart France
Conservation and Access Officer
Cambrian Caving Council