Current Position
England’s coastline is spectacularly beautiful, rich in wildlife and hugely popular. Its sandy beaches and cliff top routes generate 72 million trips a year to the undeveloped coast, and 174 million to seaside towns. Yet in spite of the long traditions of public use of this type, none of us has a secure right to walk around our nation’s coastline. Natural England’s research shows a consistent stop-go pattern of access rights around many parts of the coast. Legislation now before Parliament aims to resolve this.
Proposed legislation
The draft Marine and Coastal Access Bill was formally introduced into the Houses of Parliament following the Queen’s speech on 3rd December 2008.
The draft Bill was subject to Parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny and a Defra public consultation earlier in the year. The EFRA and Joint Committee recommendations and Government response can be viewed at Defra's Improving Access to the English Coast.
Under the legislation proposed in the Bill, the Secretary of State and Natural England will have a duty to secure a long distance walking trail around the English coast for the purposes of open-air recreation (including walking, climbing and picnicking), together with appropriate spreading room en route where people will be able to explore, rest or picnic. We will also be able to put in place any necessary restrictions on public use.
We will do all this by preparing a series of reports to the Secretary of State, each relating to a different stretch of the English coast.
Draft Scheme and Supplementary Information
Further details on how the trail will be aligned, and how access rights will be managed, are detailed in our new draft scheme.
We have also published supplementary information 
[130 kB] to help inform Parliamentary consideration of the current Bill. This provides further explanation of our proposed approach, and covers issues that are not covered in depth by the draft Scheme or are of a shorter term nature than the information this provides.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Our FAQs provide responses to common questions associated with our role in implementing these Coastal Access provisions.
If you have any questions regarding the detailed content of the Marine and Coastal Access Bill, please check Defra's Improving Access to the English Coast in the first place.
Earlier advice to Government
Our original advice in February 2007 to Government on how best to improve access to coastal land, deliver wildlife & landscape benefits and and increase people’s enjoyment and understanding can be found in our Improving Coastal Access Report.
Marine Bill
More details of our work on the marine elements of the Bill can be found on our Marine Protected Areas page.