The government has no plans to meet its target for everyone to live within a 15-minute walk of a green space, the Guardian can reveal.
Ministers have also scrapped an idea to make the target for access to nature legally binding, a freedom of information request submitted by the Right to Roam campaign shows.
Launching the plans earlier this year, the then-environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, congratulated herself for the idea: “I am particularly pleased by our pledge in this plan to bring access to a green or blue space within 15 minutes’ walk of everyone’s homes – whether that be through parks, canals, rivers, countryside or coast,” she said.
But in response to a freedom of information request, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “No assessment has yet gone to ministers on options for how to progress towards the commitment.”
At the moment, according to government data, 38% of the country live more than a 15-minute walk from a green or blue space. The data provided to ministers also states that “in the 200 most disadvantaged lower super output areas in urban settings with the lowest levels of green space, 97% have no access to green space within 15 minutes’ walk from home”.
The documents reveal that the government rejected the idea of making the target legally binding, meaning it does not have to fulfil its promise.
Notes show that the former environment secretary George Eustice “queried the idea of a top-down target”, while Defra officials noted there were “challenges associated with setting a legally binding target”.
Guy Shrubsole, from the Right to Roam campaign, said: “A year after making their access commitment, ministers still have no idea how on earth to meet it. And having rejected setting a legal target for increasing access, the government is clearly only interested in spinning good headlines rather than improving the nation’s health and wellbeing.
“The next government needs to be bold and give the public a default right of responsible access with sensible exceptions. Without this, meeting the 15 minutes goal will prove impossible.”
A Defra spokesperson said: “We are increasing access to nature and just last week we announced an ambitious package of measures, including a search for a new national park and funding to help more children get outdoors and into the countryside, making our green spaces accessible for all communities.
“Work is ongoing to develop an approach to monitoring and evaluating our vital commitment that every household should be within a 15-minute walk of a green space or water.”
• The headline of this article was amended on 11 December 2023 to refer to England, not to the UK as an earlier version said.
