Scotland’s long-awaited overhaul of farming subsidy fails to replace “invaluable” lost funding for paths and public access, a leading walking charity has warned.
It had been widely expected that the Scottish Government’s new draft Rural Support Plan would roll out new post-Brexit subsidies for funding outdoor access infrastructure, including the nation’s tens of thousands of miles of paths.
Ramblers Scotland says it was “shocked” to discover that the Scottish Government’s emerging Rural Support Plan contains no replacement for the vital Improving Public Access (IPA) scheme – which previously invested around £2 million a year into paths, bridges and signage before being suspended in 2022.
Ramblers Scotland director Brendan Paddy said: “Outdoor recreation is transformational for Scotland’s health and happiness – and worth more than £1 billion a year to the visitor economy.
“The lack of investment since 2022 has already led to blocked paths, broken bridges and too few new routes to support booming demand.
“It is frankly shocking that Ministers have missed this golden opportunity to act, leaving Scotland now with the worst funding for outdoor access anywhere in Britain.”
Mr Paddy has written to Rural Affairs Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon calling for urgent action – highlighting that the suspension of grants follows other funding cuts, including for long-distances walking routes and council access budgets.
Right now, Ramblers Scotland is urging Government to restore IPA with at least £2 million a year from 2026/27.
A NatureScot review described IPA as “invaluable… both ensuring that the public can enjoy and benefit from being outdoors and closer to nature; and giving land managers a mechanism to develop or improve access.”
From 2015 to 2022, IPA funded 450 local projects worth a total of £12.2 million, delivering about:
- 155 miles of path upgrades
- 80 bridges
- 1,000 signs
- 500 gates
- 500 seats
The charity points out that Wales funds recreational paths through farming subsidies and access grants, while Scotland now only invests in active travel routes.
Scotland has 29 Great Trails, 4 National Trails and almost 14,000 miles of designated Core Paths.
Ramblers Scotland is a member of Scottish Outdoor Recreation Alliance, a coalition with a manifesto urging politicians to deliver a long-term fix to the nation’s trail-funding problems – starting with a new £50 million Scottish Paths Fund invested during the next 5-year parliament, read more details here.