Decision

Notice by the Secretary of State under section 52 [and 55(1)] of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949: Canal Road, Strood, Medway, Kent (VR15)

Updated 28 March 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coastal-access-section-52-notice-for-iwade-to-grain/notice-by-the-secretary-of-state-under-section-52-and-551-of-the-national-parks-and-access-to-the-countryside-act-1949-canal-road-strood-medway

Introduction

On 15 January 2020 Natural England submitted a compendium of coastal access reports relating to the stretch of land between Iwade and Grain to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under section 51 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (“the 1949 Act”), pursuant to its duty under section 296(1) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”).  

On 12 November 2020 the Secretary of State gave notice under Section 52(2) that the proposals for part eight of the Iwade to Grain stetch were approved (“the approved coastal access provisions”).

On 26 May 2022, under section 55(1) of the 1949 Act, Natural England submitted a coastal access variation report relating to proposed changes to the approved coastal access provisions (“the coastal access variation report”) to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The coastal access variation report proposed changes to the approved coastal access provisions at Canal Road, Strood, Medway, Kent.

In reaching their determination under section 52 of the 1949 Act the Secretary of State has considered:

a. proposed changes to the England Coast Path at Mill Creek, Newhaven, East Sussex - Natural England’s coastal access variation report submitted to the Secretary of State on 26 May 2022

b. in accordance with paragraph 16(1)(d) of the Schedule, a representation made by a person within paragraph 2(2)(b) to (f) of the Schedule, and Natural England’s comments on that representation which it sent to the Secretary of State on 8 September 2022

In this notice –

(a)  “objection” means an objection about the coastal access report which is made under paragraph 3 of the Schedule

(b) “representation” means a representation about the coastal access report which is made under paragraph 7 of the Schedule

Secretary of State’s approval of coastal access proposals

The Secretary of State has determined to approve in full the proposals for the route and associated coastal margin as set out in the coastal access variation report, in relation to which no objections were made.

The Secretary of State’s additional conclusions and observations on representations are at Annex A.

The approved variation to the route is set out at Annex B.

The Secretary of State has made available at www.gov.uk:

a. a copy of this notice

Natural England has also made available here:

b. proposed changes to the England Coast Path at Canal Road, Strood, Medway, Kent – the coastal access variation report

Annex A: Conclusions and observations on representations

Representation No: MCA/IGR-VR15/EBC0009/R/1

Name of representation:
Historic England

Length Report and route sections:
IGR-VR15-S001

Secretary of State’s conclusion and observation:
Welcomes confirmation the variation will have little or no impact on heritage assets

Annex B: Approved variation at Canal Road

Map IGR-VR15b Canal Road Strood, Medway, Kent: key environmental designations

Part 2.3: Proposals tables

See Part 3 of Overview for guidance on reading and understanding the tables that follow.

Table 2.3.1: Map IGR-VR15c Canal Road, Strood, Medway, Kent

Key notes on table:

  1. Column 4 – ‘No’ means no roll-back is proposed for this route section. ‘Yes – normal’ means roll-back is proposed and is likely to follow the current feature (e.g. cliff edge/beach) for the foreseeable future as any coastal change occurs.

  2. Column 4 – ‘Yes – see table 2.3.2’ means roll-back is proposed, but refer to that table below about our likely approach to implementing it for this route section. This is because a more complex situation exists in this case and consideration must be given to how roll-back may happen in relation to excepted land, a protected site etc.

  3. Column 5a - Certain coastal land types are included automatically in the coastal margin where they fall landward of the trail if they touch it at some point. The relevant land type (foreshore, cliff, bank, barrier, dune, beach, flat or section 15 land – see Glossary in Annex B to the 2017 Overview) is shown in this column where appropriate. “No” means none present on this route section.

  4. Columns 5b and 5c – Any entry in these columns means we are proposing to align the landward boundary of the coastal margin on this route section with the physical feature(s) shown in 5b, for the reason in 5c. No text here means that for this route section the landward edge of the margin would be that of the trail itself - or if any default coastal land type is shown in 5a, that would be its landward boundary instead.

1: Map 2: New route section numbers 3: Current status of route sections 4: Roll-back proposed? (See part 8 of 2017 report Overview) 5a: Landward margin contains coastal land type? 5b: Proposal to specify landward boundary of margin 5c: Reason for landward boundary proposal 6: Explanatory notes
IGR-VR15c Canal Road, Strood, Medway, Kent IGR-VR15-S001 Public footway (pavement) No No Landward edge of pavement Clarity and cohesion  
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