Countryside
Access Forum
Held at Wroughton
Science Museum
Wednesday
11th April 2007
Commencing
at 10:30am
Members
Mr E Clark Independent
(Acting Chairman)
Mr R Feltham Open
Spaces Society
Mr R Crook National
Farmers Union
Mr W Lewis Wiltshire
Association of Local Councils
Mr M Johnson Independent
Mr J Withers South
Wiltshire Rights of Way Preservation Group
Mr W Riley Trail
Riders Fellowship
Mrs A Henshaw Council for the Protection of Rural
England
Mrs Woodbridge British
Driving Society
Mr C Gingell The
National Trust
Mrs P Crabb Ramblers
Association
Mr P Goodhugh The Amesbury Society
Mr W Brown Independent
Officers
Mrs D Chandler Swindon
Borough Council
Mrs A Ellis Swindon Borough Council
Mr G Bryant Swindon Borough Council
Mr R Broadhead Wiltshire
County Council
Mrs B Burke Wiltshire County Council
Miss J Green Wiltshire County Council
Observers
Ms S Manchester New
Forest National Park Authority
Ms J White British Driving Society
Mr R Coward Ramblers Association
Mrs J Crosbee Ramblers Association
Mr J Batt CPRE & Urchfont Parish Council
Mr C Patient Trial Riders Fellowship &
Berkshire LAF
Miss B MacMullen Wiltshire
Bridleways Association
Mrs C Evans-Rreke Wiltshire
Bridleways Association
Ms R Crocker New Forest Countryside Access Forum
Secretary
Mrs A Stewart
Non Attendees
Mr R Langton
Country Land Business
Mr A Thomson Friends
of Salisbury Shopmobility
1
Apologies
Mr C Humphries Chairman
Mr R Hayward Vice
Chairman
•
As Mr
Humphries and Mr Hayward were both unavailable to chair the meeting Mrs
Chandler suggested Mr Clark as Chair.
All members agreed. Mr Clark
explained that Mr Humphries had been in a motorbike accident and asked that Mrs
Stewart send Mr Humphries the Forums best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Mrs D Plummer British Horse Society
Mr R Watts Defence
Land Estates
Mr R Brooks Defence Land Estates – Belated apologies were received please
see email below.
‘My sincerest apologies for a mistake in my diary for this
morning. I had in my diary a 19:00 hrs start for the Local Access forum as
advised by HQ Salisbury Plain Training Area. I have just returned from leave
and opened your e-mail to discover that I should have been in attendance at
10:30 this morning. Obviously as it is now 11:20 this is not going to be
possible.
Could I ask that you pass on my apologies to all and arrange
for me to have a slot on the next LAF meeting? Obviously if this falls after
the close of consultation for the proposed s28 directions we will extend the
comment period for this particular direction until the CAF has been fully
informed.’
2
Minutes of the previous meeting (10th
January 2007)
2.1
All
minutes were accepted as a true record.
3
Matters Arising
3.1
Item
6.5: Mrs Crabb confirmed that either
she or another representative from the Ramblers Association would participate
in the RoWIP Working Group.
3.2
Item
6.6: Mr Broadhead explained that there
had been no news from Natural England regarding grant funding as they were
still in the process of finalising the budgets. Natural England Officers are trying to reinforce the importance
of such funding but they can only push the case so far.
3.3
Item
9.2: Mrs Henshaw suggested that the
Community Volunteer Group could be used to source suitable volunteers for RoW. Mr Broadhead explained the problem was not a
lack of volunteers but that organising volunteer groups properly with suitable
tasks took a great deal of time, time which the Rights of Way Wardens don’t
have as they are already stretched.
3.4
Item
10.3: A budget of £30,000 was allocated
for RoWIP projects for 2006/2007, which has financed several small projects in
all 4 county areas. £30,000 has been
made available for the 2007/2008 budget.
3.5
Item
12.1: Mr Lewis queried Mr Broadhead’s
comment ‘it was the department’s policy not to cut back rural paths’ as this
was a statutory duty. Mr Broadhead
explained that due to a limited budget and an extensive network of paths the
Rights of Way Warden’s maintenance programmes must be strictly prioritised and
if a rural path was a popular route annual growth would be kept back anyway.
4
Consultation on a Section 28 Indefinite
Direction, Upton Scudamore
4.1
Mr Brooks
sent belated apologies.
5
Swindon Report, Swindon Rights of Way
Liaison Group
5.1
The Swindon Liaison Group are currently focusing
on the publicity of Rights of Way as one of the key issues arising form the
RoWIP questionnaire. The majority of
the general public didn’t use the network as there appears to be little
publicity to promote where it is. The
Liaison Group is sourcing what publicity already exists for possible reuse and
to identify where there are missing links.
5.2
The Swindon RoWIP went to Committee in March and
was approved. The first full draft of
the RoWIP would be available for consultation by the beginning of May for a 6
weeks consultancy period. The CAF will
need to meet again before mid July so that they can respond to the draft.
6
Rights of Way Improvement Plan Update
(Wiltshire)
6.1
Mark Lyall
left the RoWIP Officer position after 6 weeks in post. Mr Broadhead will be interviewing 3
candidates as a replacement on Monday 16th April and is hoping to be
able to fill the vacancy within 4-6 weeks.
6.2
Mr
Broadhead explained that now Wiltshire County Council has been rated as an
excellent authority completing the RoWIP document may not be a necessity. However Mr Broadhead understands that this
is an important document to complete as it will be a useful tool to carry the
department forward. However it might be
an opportunity to extend the deadline as Mr Broadhead would like to produce an
extensively researched and detailed plan rather a plan that meets the deadline
but just pays lip service to the requirements.
6.3
The RoWIP
Officer is a permanent position in the RoW Department and will be re-titled
Countryside Access and Development Officer.
6.4
The RoWIP
budget of £30,000 can be used as match funding but not if implementing the
RoWIP becomes statutory.
6.5
Mr Clark
expressed concern that the CAF had been very passive when it came to the delay
in the completion of the Wiltshire RoWIP.
Therefore he proposed that a formal opinion from the CAF expressing
concern about the situation should be put in writing. Mr Brown seconded this suggestion and it was unanimously agreed
by the CAF. Action: Mr Clark to draft
the opinion and Mrs Stewart to circulate for comments to all CAF members. This can then be sent prior to the next
meeting.
6.6
A RoWIP
questionnaire has gone on to the Wiltshire website but Mr Broadhead was not
aware of the response numbers as the closing date for the consultation was the
day before this meeting. The CAF felt
that this was an insufficient consultation process and that a questionnaire
should also be sent out to Parish Councils and other organisations as well. Mr Broadhead explained that once the new
RoWIP Officer was in post there were a number of consultation options that
could be targeted.
6.7
Mrs
Chandler offered the Swindon questionnaire for reference.
7
Restructure of Wiltshire Rights of Way
Department update
7.1
Tim Chinnick
began work as a Definitive Mapping Officer on Monday 5th February. He has proved very keen and enthusiastic and
has got his teeth into a number of projects already.
7.2
As already
mentioned interviews for the RoWIP Officer position will be Monday 16th
April.
7.3
The
interviews for the Definitive Mapping Officer position will be taking place on
Wednesday 18th April.
7.4
Interviews
for the Rights of Way Inspector position have already taken place and Mr
Broadhead will be offering a suitable candidate the position later today. Update: Alex Howson has verbally
accepted the vacant Rights of Way Inspector's post. Mr Howson has a background in teaching/leading activities and working
with people with learning difficulties and as a volunteer with the Wiltshire
Wildlife Trust. Mr Howson should be
able to start work sometime in May.
7.5
The Administration position will need to be advertised externally.
7.6
Mr Riley voiced his concern that Mr Chinnick has been working on Public
Path Orders (PPO) which are a power and not Definitive Map Modification Orders (DMMO)
which are a statutory duty. Mr
Broadhead explained that Mr Chinnick has been working on a project in the
parish of Norton and Foxley which is similar to a mini RoWIP at work. This project has created a number of PPO;
however he is also working on a DMMO in Marlborough.
Mr
Clark suggested that if the polices in the Wiltshire Framework document are due
for renewal it would be an opportunity for a working group to assist in the
prioritisation process for orders. For
example Hampshire apply a public interest test rather than just use a first
come first served system. This would
require a robust policy for an order to be taken out of sequence.
Mr Broadhead forewarned the CAF about the Right to Apply policy that they will
be consulted on in the near future. The
policy states that a landowner will be able to take diversion orders to the
Secretary of State if after 4 months of receipt the Council have not responded
or if the applicant is unhappy with the response.
8
Regional Local Access Forum Meeting –
Monday 12th March
8.1
Mr Johnson
explained that the main benefit of the regional meetings is an opportunity to
network and share ideas with other Local Access Forum members.
8.2
A member
of Sport England was a speaking at the event and suggested that if closer links
could be forged there may be grant funding available. Perhaps a member of their regional board could sit on the CAF.
8.3
Mr Clark
congratulated Mr Johnson on the number of correspondence from external users
that had found the website extremely useful and informative.
9
Defra Consultation on the Implementation
of Section 72 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 – The
Power for National Park Authorities to make Traffic Regulation Orders
9.1
Mr
Broadhead explained that from a parochial view point this was not a large issue
in Wiltshire as only a small section of the New Forest National Park was
situated in the County, a total of 3 byways.
The Council does not have an objection to the consultation.
9.2
Sarah
Manchester from New Forest National Park handed round a copy of their response
to the members. Ms Manchester explained
that although many National Park Authorities had the responsibility for the
maintenance of routes they currently do not have the authority to put a TRO on
a route only a voluntary closure. The
NPA are seeking the full armoury of powers to be able to manage routes, however
this would not take anything away from the local Councils.
9.3
The
members felt that it is important that NPA’s do not blanket their byways with
TRO’s which would put pressure on other networks.
9.4
Mr
Broadhead to draft a response from the County Council and circulate to all CAF
members.
10
Guidance on Local Access Forums in England
10.1
Although
the guidance document is very sensible there does not appear to be many
amendments, it would have been useful for the changes to have been highlighted.
10.2
The only
major modification is that the number of bodies the CAF can give its voice to have
broadened. Mrs Chandler did note that
the CAF would now be a consultee on gating orders which may affect Swindon,
although gating orders are a last resort.
11
Report from Website Working Group
11.1
The
website usage has remained level.
11.2
Mr Johnson
has made no significant changes except to add Forestry Permissive Access sites
and Inland Revenue sites. Mr Johnson
has requested a map of the Longleat Estate from County Hall so that he can add
the permissive access sites to the website.
11.3
The County
Council are in the process of getting the website up and running and are adding
the Register of DMMOs and Register of PPOs and definitive maps to the site.
11.4
Mr Clark
stated that when attending regional events the website is always mentioned as
best practice. All the other
authorities are very impressed with the Wiltshire and Swindon website where we
are leading the field. Thank you to Mr
Johnson for all the work he has put in to the website and continues to put in.
12
Report from Publicity Group
12.1
Mr Johnson
stated that it would be useful to follow Swindon Liaison Groups lead by collecting
all the publicity that is already available such as Parish Councils booklets of
walks and list them on a database so they are available from one source. It would be a powerful tool for users. Action: Mr Johnson to draft an email to Parish
Councils regarding this documentation which Mrs Stewart can forward through the
County Councils parish council email list.
User organisations can also be targeted for their publicity and promoted
routes which would also be useful for the RoWIP.
12.2
Mrs
Henshaw stated that there is a Wiggly Bus website that lists the walks
available in Pewsey Vale from this bus, which allows bikes to be carried on the
vehicle. This would be a useful link to
add to the CAF website.
12.3
The CAF
website does have a limited use of Wiltshire County Councils Ordnance Survey
licence which means that a map can be added showing the feature described.
12.4
Mr Johnson
did raise the suggestion of the CAF putting a stand on at the West Wiltshire
Show in July which is a 3 day event. Mr
Feltham stated that the Open Spaces Society had taken a stand in previous years
but that it was extremely expensive.
Therefore it was suggested that the CAF could ‘piggy-back’ onto another
organisations stand, e.g. Wiltshire County Council or at the very least the CAF
brochures could be left at the stand. Action:
Mr Broadhead to find out if this would be possible.
13
Any Other Business
13.1
Mr Lewis
would like his disappointment noted that the MOD were not represented at the
meeting. Mr Clark asked Mrs Chandler to
contact the MOD and inform them that the deadline for comments on the
consultation must be extended until a member of the MOD have presented their
case to the CAF so that the CAF can formulate their response. Please see Mr Brook’s email listed in Item 1.
13.2
Mr Riley asked
that the agenda item number is listed on the relevant papers.
13.3
In general
the CAF support the letter to Barry Gardiner MP from the SW Region but would
like the sentence ‘it might also help to secure match funding from other
financial sources’ expanded on to ensure that the funding sources can remain
sufficiently flexible. Update:
Mrs Stewart has forwarded the CAF response to Hilary Winter,
Regional Local Access Forum Coordinator.
13.4
The
Signage Working Party will be rejuvenated and will be meeting shortly to
progress the writing to landowners and looking in to different types of signage
and it’s costing. Mr Broadhead
explained that he had made available to the CAF £10,000 for the 2007/2008
budget with £3,000 required for the administration of the CAF, £7,000 can be
used as a working budget. Action:
Mr Clark to forward Mr Riley a list of category 3 access land
parcels.
13.5
Mr Withers
asked that it be noted what an excellent job Nick Cowen has done in the south
of the county promptly putting up restricted byway signs.
13.6
Mr Withers
also asked that his thanks be noted to Nick Cowen for the effort he’s put in to
trying to limit the damage done to byways in the south due to the wet winter by
placing voluntary closure notices on them.
13.7
The DLW
project is on hold as far as Wiltshire is concerned as DLW are reviewing their
data collection process, therefore Wiltshire will need to be revisited. Mrs Chandler stated that Swindon had been
visited by DLW but had heard nothing since.
DLW are struggling with formulating the claims process and who should
take the claims forward. Action:
Mr Broadhead to forward the latest DLW letter to all CAF members
14
Date of Next Meeting
14.1
The
meeting will be held at Lady Florence Room, Anrobus House, Amesbury on
Wednesday 4th July commencing at 10:30.