Managing responsible access

There are 140,000 miles of public footpaths in England and Wales alone – enough to walk around the world six times. This is on top of 3.5 million acres of public access land and a large amount of permissive access land.

Landowners and land managers are determined to provide high quality access to the general public. But with nearly 70 million people to feed through busy farming operations, and a myriad of environmental projects necessary to fight climate change and reverse biodiversity loss, this balance can be hard to strike.

George Agnew, the owner of the Rougham Estate near Bury St Edmunds, is embracing this challenge. Spanning over 3,000 acres, the estate features ancient meadows, oak-lined hedgerows, parkland and arable fields.

There are 18 miles of public footpaths, cycling routes and permissive pathways at Rougham Estate and in recent months George has designed and opened up a new series of walks for the public to enjoy.

“I’ve always been keen on public access at the estate,” says George. “We’re in a such a beautiful place and I really wanted people to be able to enjoy it. When we started work on a café at the estate we were trying to find attractions for people to enjoy when they visited us. The new walking routes formed part of that.

“I spent last summer working out routes with different aspects of interest which start from the café. The idea has grown from there.” George adds.

Each walk has a detailed description on the estate’s website along with a downloadable PDF map and can be followed on Google maps where waypoints are provided. Visitors are asked to stick to these routes as parts of the estate, away from these walks, are preserved habitats for wildlife, such as ground-nesting birds, and not all areas are safe for the public.

George has recorded videos of himself walking each of the routes which can be viewed on YouTube.

“I give a commentary as I walk along and I’ve also been filmed by a friend using a drone. The whole thing is done in real time so if I do a two hour walk, it’s a two hour film.

“I was inspired during lockdown when I watched a series of winter walks on television where a celebrity would film themselves using a selfie stick. I thought it was a lovely thing to watch, so that was the starting point for the videos.

“I know there are people who are terrified of having public footpaths on their estates but I love seeing the public,” says George. “I think the more you can educate people into enjoying the countryside, the more they appreciate and respect the natural space.”

Visitors are asked to keep dogs on leads at all times to ensure ground nesting birds and other wildlife are not disturbed. This also reassures those who are less comfortable around dogs but want to enjoy the walks.

The estate makes it clear to visitors that some walks cross ancient meadows where cattle are grazing and provides advice on its website on how to behave around these animals.

Attracting visitors to the estate to enjoy the walks does comes with its challenges however. Litter and dog mess being two key considerations.

“We have provided bins for dog mess across the estate and I do think it is working on the whole,” comments George. “But we do get incidents where people do not pick up the mess from their dogs and we have had cases where people pick the waste up but then hang the used bag in the trees. In terms of general litter, we have very few issues.” George is pleased to report.

The estate has around 655 acres of woodland which represents 20% of its total area which is twice the national average. These include ancient woodlands, veteran trees and traditional hedgerows.

Engaging in government schemes and advised by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, the estate regenerates hazel coppice, providing habitats for wildlife like dormice, rare bats and butterflies and fostering native flora.

Farming remains core to the business with the arable crops including rye, sugar beet, spring barley, wheat, malting barley and oilseed rape, grown on a mixture of soil types.

Diversification projects and visitor attractions at the estate include a newly opened café, a sunken garden, art and craft workshops, sunflower and pumpkin patches and residential properties.

Rougham Estate Manager Simon Eddell says diversification is not a new concept to them.

“The estate began diversifying itself more than 30 years ago with Christmas trees and a pop up Christmas shop,“ says Simon. “We have been in the mindset of opening up the doors to the public for a long period of time.

“It can be difficult finding the balance of allowing people to have greater freedoms at the estate whilst also farming in a conservation-minded way where wildlife requires tranquillity.

“But we have always had a lot public rights of way across the estate and back in an old Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement we had additional permissive rights of way too, so we are used to having people walking around the estate.”

Rougham Estate has demonstrated how permissive access can be used to complement other on-farm diversification projects. The CLA is supportive of creating additional public access on a voluntary and permissive basis so it is fascinating to hear how this estate has struck a balance between food production, recreation and nature.

If members want further advice on how to structure permissive access projects, and the funding that is likely to be available, then do not hesitate to contact your regional office or the National Access Adviser.