Conservation covenants 'must not remove rights of access'

The introduction of conservation covenants into English law must not result in the removal of access rights, The Ramblers has said.

A Law Commission consultation on the issue closed earlier this summer. The commission argued that conservation covenants would help protect wildlife and historic buildings, instead of the existing "complex and costly" methods.

Kate Conto, senior policy officer at The Ramblers, said that despite legal protection of rights of way, there remained a "steady stream of access problems" where access was denied.

"The Ramblers is keen to explore new ways in which public access to the countryside can be extended," she said.

"However, conservation covenants are based on an agreement between a willing landowner and a willing responsible body.

"This does nothing to address the situation where there is an unwilling landowner, unless some form of incentive is provided. Finally, given the current state of public finances, there could be reluctance on the part of potentially responsible bodies to take on extra costs and liabilities."

Conto said it should be made much more explicit that the term 'public benefit' in relation to covenants meant public access.

She said precedents for this existed in other systems, for example in New Zealand, where a system of covenants provided a "bundle of rights" to protect natural and historic resources but which also provided for their appreciation and enjoyment.

However, Conto said that where public access already existed, through permissive or statutory rights, "conservation covenants must not be used to override existing mechanisms".

In its response to the consultation, English Heritage (EH) said conservation covenants could be "particularly useful in certain situations" such as when a property was sold.

EH said it was "generally preferable to sell the freehold" but difficult to ensure conservation under current laws.

Rather than retaining ownership of some of the benefitted land, which was "unnecessary and could potentially impact on the sale", EH said the use of conservation covenants would allow the organisation to set conditions which could be enforceable in law.

A spokesman for the Law Commission said it was not due to produce a formal report on conservation covenants until December 2014, when all the consultation responses would be published.