We enjoyed Adrian Chiles’s column (I’ve found my dream job. And it’s all thanks to that nasty fall into the wild garlic, 9 March) and are pleased that one of our member officers was able to assist in rectifying what was clearly a hazard to accessing wonderful countryside. We were equally disappointed that you came across an officer who did not share that ethic and ambition, but we know that that is in no way reflective of the profession as a whole. Sadly, with budgetary restraints across all local authority work, this area is often under-resourced and can lead to the potential for dissatisfaction for some officers.
The Institute of Public Rights of Way (IPROW) believes that there is immense value to society as a whole in having a well-connected, easy to use network of rights of way and other access, that has multiple benefits to the local economy through visitor spend, sustainable access between places and facilities and, as was so vividly demonstrated during the pandemic, the physical health and mental wellbeing benefits of outdoor recreation.
I wish you good luck in finding a job in rights of way and access – it can be the most rewarding of professions, and IPROW has job vacancies on our website if you are interested.
Richard Cuthbert
President, Institute of Public Rights of Way and Access Management
• Adrian Chiles might be interested to know that the Peak and Northern Footpaths Society (PNFS) has been inspecting footpaths since 1894, when the society was created to protect access to a right of way across Kinder Scout. Today we have more than 150 volunteer footpath inspectors across a great swathe of northern England, from Wirral across to Rotherham and from Lancaster down to south Derbyshire.
We would be delighted to offer him a role as a volunteer footpaths inspector. Or he could report any rickety stiles he finds to PNFS using our Path Checker app, which he can download free. Then he could start his dream job straight away.
David Gosling
Vice-chair, Peak and Northern Footpaths Society
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