North East coastal footpaths to be made accessible to all

Jul 31 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

ALMOST 60 miles of new coastal footpath in the North East will be made accessible when a Bill to open all of the country’s coast to the public is made law.

The findings by Natural England come from an audit of the existing coastline access, which shows that there is already legally secure or satisfactory access to 67% of the North East coast, totaling 123 miles.

However an estimated 60 miles, or 33%, of the region’s coastline is currently inaccessible to the public.

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill – due to become law this autumn – would enable the creation of a continuous, high-quality path providing a secure right of access along the entire coast of England.

The coastline is considered a major asset to the North East, with heritage coast designations for stretches in Northumberland and County Durham, and the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as European designations.