The argument for a universal right of access is compelling (Letters, 5 November), but if Keir Starmer is reluctant to go that far, he could opt instead to build on the Blair government’s Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 by granting a right to access to woodland.
Such a move would greatly increase access opportunities throughout England’s countryside, except in extensive arable areas. It would be cheaper to implement than the original 2000 act, as the complex botanical work and mapping required for terrain such as chalk downland would not be necessary. Nor would there be any need for signposting to identify such access land: woods are already shown on Ordnance Survey maps and we can all identify one.
As I explain in my book A Right to Roam, woodland, being economically very valuable in the past, was often not penetrated but skirted by public rights of way, so although some “access islands” would result, the overall benefit should be life-transforming.
Marion Shoard
Four Elms, Kent
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