Informal County Strategies for Countryside Recreation in England and Wales

Informal county-level strategies for countryside recreation, and countryside strategies with recreation components, have emerged since 1988, in part at least because of uncertainties in statutory strategic planning. Advice on their purpose is ambiguous but on their content is non-existent. Countryside recreation strategies are a direct response to Countryside Commission objectives, but countryside strategies have originated for a number of different reasons. They both appear to be successful at addressing non-land use recreation issues that fall outside of the jurisdiction of structure plans, and provide good examples of collaborative planning. They are, however, grant-aid-driven plans and have a residual resource claim relative to structure planning responsibilities.