New coastal path 'waste of money' says CLA

The CLA today said the plan to roll out the All-England coastal path on the South West coast followed by five further areas across the country was an unnecessary waste of money.

The Association said plans by Natural England to boost access along the coastal path beside Weymouth Bay and for new 20-mile stretches in Cumbria, Norfolk, Kent, Somerset and County Durham under the Marine and Coastal Access Act are a very surprising use of public money because so much of the coast is already accessible.

CLA President William Worsley said: "Dorset is already very well served by the acclaimed South West Coast Path so there is no need to provide increased access at Weymouth Bay. Public money will be used to pay for what largely already exists.

"Natural England’s own figures state that more than four-fifths of the coast is already accessible to the public. Of the remaining16 percent, only half could be accessed, because ports, harbours, military bases or sites of crucial conservation cover the other half."

Mr Worsley added: "In these straitened times when the Government is trying to cut public expenditure, it is misguided to spend millions of pounds replicating access that already exists.

"If the Government wants to spend money on the coast, then it would be better spent on improving the facilities already on the established coastal paths such as maintenance, signs, toilets and car parks."