MALVERN has ranked among the country’s best regions for access to walking paths, according to a report commissioned by walking charity Ramblers.
The region benefits from good access to nature with some of the highest rates of walking paths within a 10 minute walk of people’s homes among other top areas including Rossendale, Stroud, Calderdale, High Peak, Burnley, Pendle and South Tyneside.
The report, carried out by the New Economics Foundation, ranked Plymouth, Coventry, Kingston upon Hull, Corby, Sefton, Blackpool, Southampton, Liverpool, North East Lincolnshire and Norwich as the regions with the least access to nature.
Ramblers are now aiming to highlight the importance of access to nature locally for mental and physical health, highlighting the use of England’s walking path network adds over 3,000 healthy years of life to people across the nation.
The New Economics Foundation deemed these added years to be the estimated well-being value of £2 billion, over £33 per person in England and Wales.
Looking nationally, the report noted inequality across the nation with regard to access to nature.
Predominantly white areas have 144% more local paths than the most ethnically diverse while the most deprived communities in England and Wales would have around 63% more paths in their local area today if all public paths had been accurately registered in legal records from the 1950s onwards or if alternative paths had been provided.
The Ramblers’ analysis suggests that on a national level, doubling the average length of paths in a neighbourhood would result in an additional annual 78.5 million walks in nature across England and Wales.
This is because the more paths people have close to home, the more likely they’ll go for a walk and be able to enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of being active in nature.
To combat the problems of inequality in relation to access to nature, Ramblers says the solution lies in better recording of walking path networks, the protection of the network from development and decline, and an expansion of the network through investment.
Jack Cornish, head of paths for the Ramblers says: “This research has shown that governments are missing an open goal.
“It’s clear that availability of paths close to people’s home has a massive impact on health outcomes – with those from more deprived areas or underserved groups missing out.
“This is not a problem that’s insurmountable.
“This report lays out what needs to happen and the Ramblers is calling for the support needed to bring paths to their full potential, so they can benefit every one of us.”
