ENGLISH Heritage is to object to the inclusion of Silbury Hill on a map showing areas where ramblers are free to walk when the Countryside and Rights of Way Act comes into force in 2005.

Visitors to the Countryside Agency's roadshow at Marlborough Leisure Centre last Thursday were surprised to see the ancient monument, the largest Neolithic structure of its type in Europe, highlighted in yellow on the maps on display, indicating it was open country.

Open country is defined under legislation that became law in 2000 as land, other than registered common land, which appears to the Countryside Agency "to consist wholly or predominantly of mountain, moor, heath or down" and, therefore, be open to ramblers unless otherwise exempted.

But English Heritage has fought for years to prevent visitors climbing Silbury Hill, which has suffered severely from erosion and the collapse of internal excavations in recent years.

A spokesman said that they had worked closely with Kennet District Council and Wiltshire County Council to create a viewing point close to the 5,000-year-old monument but there was no access to the hill itself.

She added that English Heritage has objected to the inclusion of the monument as being open country in the definition of the Act and they hoped the Countryside Agency would make the required amendment.

Not only was Silbury Hill coloured yellow on the maps, but so was virtually the whole of Salisbury Plain, including the Larkhill artillery range and the impact zone.

But senior countryside officer Andy Wistow explained: "It was the job of the Countryside Agency to identify areas of mountain, moor, heath and down and identify them on the map. But inclusion of these areas does not override existing restrictions, like military by-laws and local authority regulations.

"The main purpose of this consultation process is to highlight areas of difficulty and bring them to our attention."

Visitors to the exhibition and presentation at the leisure centre on Thursday were told they had until midnight on December 3 to register their objections, with relevant evidence.

Using the feedback from the consultation process, provisional maps will be prepared. Appeals against them will then be heard before conclusive maps are published.

But they will not become legally fixed until commencement orders are issued by the Secretary of State for the Environment.

During the question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation, Coun Chris Humphries, county councillor for Aldbourne and Ramsbury, asked what preparations were being made to create access to areas of open country not adjacent to public roads.

Mr Wistow replied that there is provision in the act to give power to local authorities to create new rights of way to link isolated parcels of open country.

Tony Adamson, from Bishops Cannings parish council, asked how the Countryside Agency could make sure that ramblers did not stray off open country land onto private land.

He was told that areas of open country would be bounded by obvious landmarks and it would not be easy to stray off them.

Another questioner asked whose responsibility it was to maintain open country areas, and pay for any damage caused by those who accessed it.

Mr Wistow said that those accessing the land had no right to cause damage. He said that the landowner was responsible for the maintenance of the land, fences, walls and other structures but that the Countryside Agency was looking into ways of providing financial support to landowners and farmers so they bore no burden for granting access to their land.

Other roadshows in the county will take place at St Margaret's Hall, Bradford on Avon tomorrow, Friday September 27, from 12.30pm to 7.30pm and at Salisbury Arts Centre on Saturday from 10am to 4pm. The Countryside Agency helpline is 0845 100 3298 and its website is www.countryside.gov.uk/access/mapping.

'Onus is very much on land owners'

Wiltshire landowners are being warned that their land could be wrongly mapped as a Right to Roam area.

The Countryside Agency is currently surveying all land in the South West to produce a draft map showing where ramblers have the right to walk.

But local surveyor David Pardoe says the Agency is using out of date maps and acres of farmland and even gardens have been included on the draft map.

Mr Pardoe, of FPD Savills, Salisbury, said; "There are two problems with the mapping process.

"The first is that some of the data they are using is ten years old, so obviously a lot of it is inaccurate.

"The second is that they are mapping the wrong type of land, and including gardens and farmland instead of the common land that they are supposed to be looking at."

"The onus is very much on the land owners to check the maps and tell the Agency if it is wrong, otherwise they could find ramblers at the bottom of their garden."

This survey is only for the draft map, and people have three months to register their complaints with the Countryside Agency.

After that a provisional map will be produced, which only the person who owns the land or has a legal interest in it can object to.

The right to roam extends over all common land, such as moors, mountains, downs or heath land, but does not include farmed or developed land.

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