Thousands of stiles could start disappearing from the Welsh countryside

North Wales Live

4 days ago

Stiles, so long a staple of the Welsh countryside, could start disappearing under a new financial support scheme for farmers. Landowners can choose to remove them, or replace them with gates, to improve public access to farmland.
The Welsh Government hopes this will enable more people to 'enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits of exploring nature and our farmed environment'.
Removing stiles is among the many options farmers can choose to implement under the industry's new Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS). Published on July 15, and seven years in the making, the controversial scheme offers greener farm subsidies in return for carrying out environmental work.
Other options include installing seats at viewpoints, and erecting information boards. Theses boards could describe local landscape feaures or deliver educational messages, such as the importance of closing gates.
Thousands of stiles – steps or ladders over fences and walls – are thought to remain in Wales, though in recent years some have been replaced with kissing gates. Many are iconic features of stone and wire boundaries in Eryri National Park and along the Wales Coast Path.
By improving access on farms, ministers say there will be 'fewer barriers to people enjoying the outdoors safely'. Better on-farm signage will also enhance visitor experiences and reinforce messages about the responsible use of the countryside.
Farmers can choose to remove stiles only where livestock security is no longer needed – more likely on the hills. Despite this, workshop surveys found that, among Welsh farmers, increasing public access was one of the scheme's least popular goals.
Although billed as a way of educating the public about farming, half of all landowners said they would baulk at the idea. A report by ICF Consulting Services noted widespread alarm about the potential for public misbehaviour on farms if they were opened up.
It said: 'Strong concerns were raised around biosecurity and negative behaviour associated with greater public access such as fly tipping, increases in rural crime and hare coursing, cutting fences, dogs (and) noisy motorised vehicles.'
Neither is Aberconwy Senedd Member Janet Finch-Saunders a fan of the concept. 'The removal of stiles on footpaths could open up farms to the risk of damage from illegal scramble biking, causing additional issues to farmers,' she said.
Previous versions of the scheme included proposals to pay farmers for creating new paths. The Ramblers had wanted the SFS to go further, funding farmers to repair existing paths. By excluding this as a scheme option, the group said it was a 'missed opportunity' for the unblocking of 'thousands of miles of routes' in unusable or poor condition.
Similarly, the Open Spaces Society had wanted farm funding to be provided only if all rights of way and access were 'in good order'.
As a basic SFS requirement, landowners will be expected to continue complying with existing legislation that provides the public with some access to farmland. These include the Public Rights of Way and Countryside Rights of Way (CRoW) Acts.
In 2022 Lesley Griffiths, then Rural Affairs Minister, said the scheme's aim was to increase the proportion of public rights of way that are 'open, easy to use and well signed' beyond the legal requirements.
With over two thirds of public rights of way in Wales on farmland, the SFS would 'allow farmers to contribute further to our nation's health and prosperity, whilst also providing greater access to our cultural and heritage rural areas', she added.
Although the SFS is expected to go live on January 1, 2026, last-minute tweaks are not expected to be finalised until the autumn.