Coastal Access

The Draft Marine Bill published on 3rd April 2008 proposes to extend the right of access currently covered by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW) to include land which is coastal margin to create a route around the coast of England. In its current format it proposes to include:

1. the foreshore
2. land which comprises any cliff, bank, barrier, dune, beach or flat which is adjacent to the foreshore
3. land of any of the following categories, provided that taken as a whole, the land falling in these categories is coastal land
   1. land over which the line taken by the English coastal route passes
   2. land which is adjacent to and within 2 metres of that line
   3. land which is adjacent to and to the seaward of land within (ii) above

The following lands are just some of those proposed to be excepted:

• Land covered by buildings or the curtilage of such land
• Land used as a park or garden
• Land covered by works for the purposes of a statutory undertaking

As a coastal Authority, North East Lincolnshire Council will be carefully monitoring the progression of the Marine Bill and its implications for this area.