Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP)

Cardiff Council has a Public Rights of Way (PROW) network of approx. 200 km, consisting of footpaths, bridleways and restricted byways. In addition, there are several sites and routes that provide access opportunities in Cardiff such as permissive paths, green lanes, cycle tracks, parks and common land.

In June 2008, Cardiff Council published its first ROWIP; the purpose of it was to provide a 10-year plan outlining how the PROW team would manage and improve its Rights of Way and access opportunities within that period.

In Wales, there were 23 ROWIPs produced. Now, almost 10 years on from publishing the first ROWIPs, local authorities must consider whether or not to amend them. Due to various legislative changes and economic challenges in the last 10 years, they are likely to produce new ROWIPs and publish them between 2017-19. Cardiff Council has decided to review theirs and publish a new 10-year ROWIP.

The first ROWIPs were subject to Welsh Government guidance in 2002, which outlined how the ROWIPs should be produced and the stages involved. These included; consultations with members of the public and various interested groups, review of relevant strategic documents, condition assessments of existing PROW network and a review of the Definitive Map. 

The review and republication of a new ROWIP will be subject to updated Welsh Government Guidance​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​ issued in July 2016. To summarise, this includes:

• Evaluating the delivery of the previous ROWIP
• Evaluation of the current condition of the PROW network and its legal record
• Addressing the statutory and supplementary matters (see page 3 below)
• Assessing public needs and identifying opportunities
• Preparing a new Statement of Action and Delivery Plans
• Developing and renewing delivery plans
• Publishing the draft of the new ROWIP
• Publishing the finalised new ROWIP
• Implementing the new ROWIP

New ROWIPs will differ from earlier ROWIPs in the following ways:

• Statement of Action and Delivery Plans; in the Annexes, the Delivery Plans will set out shorter term and flexible work plans that can be reviewed and changed when needed. New Statement of Actions (which will complement the Delivery Plans) will only include long term and strategic work plans for the 10-year period.  The first ROWIP had Statement of Actions which could not be changed without a review of the plan in its entirety.
• Evaluation of the first ROWIP; The extent to which actions in last ROWIP have been delivered, with any outstanding or relevant actions taken forward.
• Review of limitations and authorised structures; The Welsh Govt. guidance includes a direction to review and provide a summary of limitations and authorised structures on the public rights of way network.
• Links to new and updated plans and strategies (ref Stage 4, point 2. a); Links to other plans and strategies developed since the first ROWIP, that refer to active travel (walking and cycling), outdoor access, health and well-being and transport.  In Cardiff Council, these include; Capital Ambition, Corporate Plan 2017-2019, Liveable City Report 2017, Transport Plan 2015-2020, SEW Regional Transport Plan (2010), Cardiff Local Development Plan 2006-2026 (Adopted), Cardiff ‘What Matters’ strategy, Enfys (cycle network) and Active Travel Maps, City Deal, Walkable Neighbourhood Programme and Green Infrastructure Action Plan.
• Focus on non-participants; consider the needs of the wider public including those who currently do not participate in outdoor recreation regularly.
• Focus on blind, partially sighted and mobility users; more emphasis on taking into account the needs of blind or partially sighted people and those with mobility issues.

The following key pieces of legislation have also been enacted since publication of the first ROWIP will need to be given due regard and incorporated in the new plan:

• Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​; Part 2, point 4 focuses on 7 well-being goals: A prosperous Wales, a resilient Wales, a healthier Wales, a more equal Wales, a Wales of cohesive communities, a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language, a globally responsible Wales..
• Active Travel (Wales Act) 2013​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​ places a duty on Local Authorities to secure new active travel routes for walkers and cyclists, in order to promote active travel journeys. Welsh Government also gives a Report​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​ on this Act.
• Equality Act 2010​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​; this largely replaced the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and specifies a number of ‘protected characteristics’ making it unlawful to discriminate against someone on those grounds. Section 149​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​ places a ‘public sector equality duty’ in carrying out its functions to give due regard to these principles, which should be fully incorporated in the new ROWIP. 
  

• Environment (Wales) Act 2016​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​; Area Statements (section 11​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​) developed under this Act
• Whilst in place for the first ROWIP, the Local Government Act 1999​​​​​​​​​​​​External link opens in a new window​ Part 1, point 3 will need to be given due regard in the new ROWIP; Section 3 requires local authorities to secure continuous improvements and to consult service users.

The Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 is the legal mechanism for the draft and review of ROWIPs (section 61). The review will be carried out by reference to the statutory and supplementary matters contained therein:

Statutory matters:

• The extent to which local rights of way meet the present and future needs of the public, with plans to manage and improve them
• The opportunities provided by local rights of way for exercise and other forms of open air recreation and the enjoyment of the authority’s area
• The accessibility of local rights of way to blind or partially sighted people and others with mobility problems

Supplementary or additional matters:

• An evaluation of the degree to which the previous ROWIP has been delivered
• An evaluation of the present condition of the network and its record
• Opportunities to contribute to Active Travel objectives
• Opportunities to contribute to Well-being objectives
• Opportunities to contribute to the delivery of other plans and priorities

We should also include:

• Consideration of current and new planning proposals in regards to the Local Development Plan (LDP)
• Consideration of any directives from Welsh Government in regard to current or new consultations specifically re. PROW, e.g. ‘Improving opportunities to access the outdoors for responsible recreation’, or other legislative changes.

The timetable below sets out the stages to be followed to produce a new up to date revised ROWIP for Cardiff. It includes target dates by which each stage is to be completed and is broken down into various tasks.

Inevitably some tasks may change or develop as feedback and various views are considered, so target dates are open to review.

There will be 2 further consultations; during the New Assessment at stage 4 and the Draft new ROWIP at stage 5 (which must be for a minimum of 12 weeks).

At the end of stage 3, we will have 12 months to publish the new ROWIP. Once the new ROWIP is published, the Delivery Plans will need to be monitored every year to keep the document relevant over the next 10 yrs.