JOSS LYNAM,
Sir, - It gives me no pleasure to argue publicly with Mr Herman (Letters, August 9th) since we both desire the same thing - reasonable access to the countryside. However, I must take issue with some points in his letter.
The closure of sections of two walks in West Cork is due to the withdrawal of a payment previously agreed and is a special case which does not invalidate my statement that most landowners have permitted walking routes to cross their farm property without recompense because they recognise the social and economic benefit of the walks to the community.
Mr. Herman condemns my "complacent attitude". Since 1978 I have been involved in the development of National Network Waymarked Ways (contrary to what Mr Herman wrote, they offer short as well as long walks) which has been the only positive move in this State towards providing walking access to the countryside, and which has introduced very many people to the pleasures of walking.
I have not seen the map of the Peak District to which Mr Herman refers, but most of the Peak District has been open to walkers for many years, long before the "Right to Roam" legislation was drafted.
The bureaucracy of this legislation, according to reports I have received from frustrated environment officials, is far from "flimsy"; dilatory preparation of maps, argument over the classification of areas as open country, restrictions for the needs of agriculture, are all causing frustration. Compare this with Scotland where a concord between landowners and user organisations has brought access agreements which users consider preferable to the new legislation.
Compare it also with Wicklow and the Mournes, the most heavily used mountain areas in Ireland. The Mournes Heritage Council and the Wicklow Uplands Council, bringing together farmers, recreational users, community groups and tourism providers, have created a situation in which access and other problems are settled amicably and access is not restricted.
The WUC was the main outcome of the 1995 Uplands Forum which was hosted by "Keep Ireland Open". Though KIO has not developed this initiative further, the Mountaineering Council of Ireland has picked up the baton and is hosting a conference in Sligo on November 21st-23rd which it hopes will lead to the development of similar bodies in other mountain areas.
I agree with Mr Herman that legally agreed access routes from the public road to the open mountain tops are needed, and I have confidence that upland councils are the way to achieve this. - Yours, etc.,
JOSS LYNAM, Ardilea Estate, Dublin 14