Verity Comley discusses the economic benefit brought about by the Wales Coast Path and what the potential impact of the English Coastal Path could be.
Last week the Royal Geographical Society said that there are ‘global lessons to be learnt from the success of Wales Coastal Path’ and we couldn’t agree more.
In our Reconomics report we showed the huge impact of outdoor recreation events and paths which have created a real economic and social value for local communities and those who visit.
We think that the Wales Coast Path is so great that we even made a case study all about it.
This showed that the path is worth £32 million to the Welsh Economy and attracted approximately 2.82 million visitors from September 2012-September 2013.
The impact of the path on the local economy is clear with around 5,400 tourism-related businesses and 1,222 extra jobs created within 2km of the route. This has a huge impact in many of the rural areas the path runs through – providing work where often it can be hard to come by.
As a result of the Marine and Coastal Access Act, 2009 there is now great work going on in England to create our very own path which, it is proposed, will create similarly fantastic benefits here in those rural areas in which those that live there may have the veneer of wealth but underneath are actually struggling to get by.
The Act is large and complex. Essentially it was established to improve management and protection of the marine environment and – most importantly to our members – improve recreational access to England’s coasts.
This meant that for the first time people were to have the right of access to the coast all around the country.
It’s been estimated that once completed the English coastal path will generate an estimated £2.57 billion per year for local economies and support 100,000 full time jobs.
Sections of the English Coastal Path are already established and can be considered huge success stories.
The South West Coast Path has an estimated 8.6 million visits per year, and during 2012 a direct spend of £436 million was attributable to the South West Coast Path users.
However work on England’s Coastal Path is slow.
This is because there are five stages involved in the Coastal Access process before work can begin – some of which are very time consuming.
It may seem like a lot of effort, but we know the English Coastal Path is going to be worth it.
For the latest information on the coastal path and to see where you can explore England’s coastline for yourself visit Natural England’s website.
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