To ask the Minister for Infrastructure (i) to detail the steps she is taking to include access for horse riders in off-road active travel networks, including greenway schemes; and (ii) for her assessment of horse riders being vulnerable road users, comparable to pedestrians and cyclists.

My Department has no plans, or indeed remit, to include access for horse riders in off-road active travel networks, including greenway schemes. Active travel is within my Department’s remit, the aim of which is to reduce the number of non-active journeys and so to deliver a modal shift from motorised transport. ‘Exercise – Explore – Enjoy: a Strategic Plan for Greenways’ was published by my Department in November 2016. The strategy has a particular focus on active travel and provides a framework to assist Councils and other bodies to develop their own local schemes as part of a greenway network for the entire region. As equestrian activity is not generally considered to be active travel, it was not included in the Strategic Plan.

In respect of the small number of greenways within its ownership, my Department has taken the approach that horses should not be permitted on greenways due to the size and unpredictability of such large animals. As Councils continue with greenway development, it will be each Council’s responsibility to decide whether horses should be permitted on its greenways.

My Department considers horse riders to be a vulnerable road user group, due to their lack of protection. The safety of horse riders certainly remains a priority, with advice to pass wide and slow when encountering a horse and its rider on the road. An information and advice page has been developed for the nidirect website and can be accessed at the following link: www.nidirect.gov.uk/index/information-and-services/motoring/road-safety/horse-safety-on-the-road.htm

Furthermore, my officials have also developed a leaflet entitled ‘Horse Sense For Riders and Motorists’. This leaflet was developed in association with the British Horse Society and Road Safety Scotland. The leaflet can be downloaded at: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/horse-sense-riders-and-motorists