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The existing coastal path between
Folkestone and Dover
For details
of the national picture go to the Ramblers'
national website.
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Coastal Access
The Marine and Coastal Access Act became law on 12
November 2009. The Act provides for a continuous path around the
coastline of England. This is a major success for the Ramblers and
the result of more than eight years of campaigning. We hope that
the tens of thousands of people who will benefit from the path will
support the Ramblers by joining or donating.
Here in Kent we already have access to much of our
long coastline. But there are significant gaps and the benefit of
filling these will be huge. On the Isle of Sheppey, for example,
there is satisfactory access to only about half the coastline. At
the mouth of the Ouse into Pegwell bay those walking the coastline
currently have to make a long and unsatisfactory detour into
Sandwich. And in many other places the existing access is not
legally secure and so could be removed in future. We expect the
new path to solve these problems.
The Act does not bring the new sections of path
immediately into existence. Instead it gives Natural England the
job of creating the path over the next ten years at a cost of
£50m. The exact route will be negotiated with interested parties
including landowners and the Ramblers. We believe that Kent will
be one of the first counties to be tackled.
On the day the Act received Royal
Assent, Area Chairman Peter Skipp and Area Secretary Robert Peel took
part in the making of a video for Kent TV. This can be viewed
on-line by clicking the link below.
www.KentTV.com/kentramblers
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The current greeting for those walking
the coastline of Sheppey near the Ferry Inn
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