Having worked for the Countryside Agency as part of a consultancy team managing the Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) pilots across England, we have developed considerable experience in this area and have recently brought this to bear on a ROWIP scoping and planning contract for the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.

Utilising funding support from the Countryside Council for Wales, the Authority asked us to develop a detailed structure for their ROWIP, a delivery plan and an outline of the scope and content. We also developed an estimate of the resources that the Authority would need to successfully complete the task, and looked at relationship between the ROWIP and the range of other statutory and other plans that guide and refine the Authority's work.

Detailed discussions with Authority staff both one to one and through a working group was combined with a detailed analysis of existing PROW information, existing strategies and a thorough review of the legislative requirements to inform our draft scoping document. The final report, agreed with the Authority has now been used to secure the necessary resources and to guide the ROWIP officers in their work.

Further information from Kathryn Steemson.