Local Access Forum
Thursday 6 December 2012 6.30 pm
ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM MEETING MINUTES
6 December 2012
ATTENDANCE LIST
| Name | Interest area |
| Peter Thorn | Chairman, Land management |
| Harry Hancock | Vice Chairman, Walking, open spaces |
| Councillor Beer | Walking, cycling, Old Windsor Parish Council |
| Councillor Majeed | RBWM |
| Lynn Cassells | National Trust |
| James Copas | Farming & land management |
| Hilary Essen | Walking, health issues, cycling |
| Gordon Harris | Footpaths, open spaces, Cookham Parish Council |
| Julie Mason | Walking, web |
| Christopher Westacott | Land management |
 | |
| Paul Rinder | Farming |
| Andrew Fletcher | Local Access Forum Secretary |
| Tanya Leftwich | Clerk to the Forum |
OBSERVERS
| Annie Keene | |
| Ray Sharp | Mid & West Berkshire LAF |
| Phil Smith | East Berkshire Ramblers |
APOLOGIES
Name
Councillor John Stretton
Sara Church
Margaret Cubley
William Emmett
Helen Howard
Andrew Randall
ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM
6 December 2012
MINUTES
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM
6 December 2012
MINUTES
| | ACTION |
| 1 | Welcome, Apologies and Introductions, Declarations of Interest | |
| The Chairman Peter Thorn welcomed everyone to the twenty-seventh meeting of the Local Access Forum. Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor John Stretton, Sara Church, Margaret Cubley, William Emmett, Helen Howard and Andrew Randall. The Forum approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 June 2012. Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to pages 1-3 of the agenda. It was noted that with regard to item 1.2 Andrew Fletcher was in contact with the Special Projects Team who deal with developer contributions about whether these items can be removed. With regard to item 3.1 it was noted that Andrew Fletcher was in contact with the RSPCA with regard to signage options. | |
| 2 | Membership Update | |
| The Chairman, Peter Thorn, informed the Forum that Margaret Bowdery has chosen to reduce her voluntary activities and has stepped down from the forum. It was noted that Peter Thorn had written to Margaret Bowdery to thank her for all her hard work, which the Forum endorsed. | |
| 3 | Members’ Update | |
| None reported. | |
| 4 | Public Rights of way and land management | |
| The Forum welcomed Paul Rinder, who had agreed to attend in William Emmett’s place. Paul Rinder explained that land managers got to see a lot of what was happening in the countryside, especially in urban areas which covered:
§ Sheep worrying and maiming. § Litter and Chinese lanterns that had to be cleared. It was noted that cows often ate plastic bags, which could kill them. § Bridleways being used to access fields, and vehicles being driven on the fields. § Hare coursing. § Deer coursing (usually at night with dogs). § Drug taking (needles and syringes often found and needed to be dealt with). § Abandoned cars / burnt out cars / motorbikes driven on land. § Fly tipping. § Raves / loud music played at night. § Travellers. § Suicides and attempted suicides. § Football and other games being played on land. Paul Rinder informed the Forum that whilst landowners ended up policing their land (usually outside the 9am-5pm hours) and keep everything clear he believed the following things could be done in the future to help:
§ Information signs on paths to show where the public where footpaths ran and including information about rules and responsibilities. § More police enforcement and increased powers to the Council to be able to deal more effectively with issues. § Increased education for the public about expected behaviour when using public rights of way. § Making it easier to change / improve footpaths. § Landowners to have more information re: ploughing and land crops. § A little give and take with regard to crops as crops often grow and fall across cross-field paths. Peter Thorn thanked Paul Rinder for his useful ideas and stated that he particularly liked the idea about marking footpaths with their numbers. Hilary Essen raised the point that the ideas suggested all had costs associated to them. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that the idea for putting numbers on public footpath signs had been looked at before but it was considered too costly to get signs with specific numbers printed upon them, but suggested that stickers could be used to number current signs and that the work to implement this could potentially be passed to volunteers and parishes. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that, with regard to dog littering, he had written to all professional dog walking organisations and veterinary practices and would be writing shortly to all parish councils. He had to date received two responses, which had been very positive towards the Forums stance on the subject Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that he would welcome any advice on how to deal with dog littering, or where any particular problem area existed. Peter Thorn suggested that members contact Andrew Fletcher if they are aware where there is a particular problem. The forum asked whether byelaws could be put in place to enable the Council to deal with dog issues more effectively and Andrew Fletcher agreed to investigate this. Hilary Essen informed the Forum that she had taken a photo of a motorcyclist, who was driving on a footpath, which she believed, had been a successful deterrent. Councillor Beer stated that he believed taking photos could expose people to violence. Andrew Fletcher suggested that registration numbers be taken in future and be reported to the Thames Valley Police so that appropriate action could be taken. Christopher Westacott raised the issue that the law relating to public rights of way encourages landowners to put up ‘private’ signs on their land wherever people may possibly walk, in order to protect themselves from a claim for public rights. Harry Hancock agreed that the overuse of the sign tends to litter the countryside and have a negative impact. After discussion of the issues it was agreed that Andrew Fletcher would write to Brian Martin and ask that Community Wardens make contact with landowners in their areas to establish better liaison and communication. It was felt that this would enable both the landowner and the Council to respond more effectively to problems on their land. It was also agreed that Peter Thorn write to Theresa May MP to communicate the forum’s concern that the state of the law regarding public rights of way effectively encourages landowners to litter the countryside with “Private” signs. | Andrew Fletcher Andrew Fletcher Peter Thorn |
| 5 | Milestones Statement and targets 2013/14 consultation and analysis of the existing public rights of way network | |
| Andrew Fletcher gave the Forum a short presentation entitled ‘An analysis of the Public Rights of Way network’. A copy was available on request from the Clerk. The presentation covered the following:
§ A few figures § Outstanding Issues § Issues resolved 2012 § Outstanding Issues § Work in progress Andrew Fletcher explained that the purpose of this report was to consult the forum on the priorities, targets and service standards to be included in the Milestones Statement and Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan Annual Review 2013/14. It was noted that the Milestones Statement was scheduled to be submitted to the Council’s Rights of Way and Highway Licensing Panel on the 12 March 2013. RESOLVED: After discussion, the forum made the following recommendations:
· Target AC1 to be changed to “Create 1 new strategic path, either permitted or public right of way, to fill identified gaps in the network. · Maintenance and Enforcement of public rights of way should be moved to the top of the priorities list The forum also requested a report for the LAF concerning the condition of bridleways and the state of the network, particularly identifying gaps and missing links in the network | Andrew Fletcher All All Andrew Fletcher |
| 6 | Public rights of way booklet review | |
| Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that the purpose of his report was to consult them on the review of the Public Rights of Way Information booklet. It was requested that a more punchy title be sourced, an example ‘Out in the Country – where can you go and what can you do?’ was given. It was noted that the target readership was currently everyone but that it could be split into two markets; landowners and walkers if the Forum so wished. RESOLVED: The forum recommended the following changes:
o The leaflet should be split into 2 sections, one dealing with user rights/information and the other with landowner and farmer related information. These sections should have a colour band at the top to enable ease of use. o Information about responsible dog ownership should be included o There should be a clearer definition about who produced the leaflet. o Information for farmers should include information about the reasons why something should be done rather than simply because it is the law. It was agreed that Hilary Essen and Julie Mason assist Andrew Fletcher with the work and that the Chairman would proof read the revised document. | Andrew Fletcher Hilary Essen, Julie Mason, Peter Thorn & Andrew Fletcher |
| 7 | Farming and ploughing leaflet | |
| Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to his report on page 34 of the agenda. It was noted that the Council was proposing to produce a similar leaflet to Kent County Council and Hampshire County Council to send to farmers and to accompany letters when initial contact was made about ploughing or cropping problems. James Copas informed the Forum that all the information included in the leaflet was already provided in the annual DEFRA handbooks, which were provided to farmers. Andrew Fletcher responded by explaining that the Council were not planning to print the leaflet but to make publish it electronically, something that could also be emailed or printed out only when needed. It was suggested that the information could be incorporated into a standard letter rather than a leaflet. Andrew Fletcher stated that he believed it was easier to send a reminder rather than having to arrange enforcement. RESOLVED: It was agreed unanimously to proceed with the electronic version of the leaflet only so that it could be sent out with a reminder letter. | Andrew Fletcher |
| 8 | Devolution of public rights of way services to parishes | |
| Andrew Fletcher explained that the report updated the Forum about the role of Parish Council’s in public rights of way work, and progress in the devolution of public rights of way works to Parish Councils. It was noted that the Council was offering Parish Councils the opportunity to administer the service within their areas thus enabling them to locally determine how the service was provided. Andrew Fletcher explained that the service was currently carried out by a single contractor covering all Parishes in the Royal Borough with the exception of Cookham and Old Windsor, who already arranged routine vegetation clearance on public rights of way in their areas. It was noted that the value of the contract for 2012/13 was £18,000 and that invitations for tender for the 2013/14 contract was due to be issued in January 2013. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that the contract included a schedule of programmed works for example strimming and mowing vegetation growing on the paths, and a unit price for reactive tree clearance works. It was noted that the Royal Borough usually had between 40-50 requests for tree clearance per annum. RESOLVED: The forum recommended that option 3 is the best approach for managing the PROW service, for the following reasons:
o The work can be completed to the same standard if RBWM are managing the contract o RBWM is able to maintain their database of issues and delegate some work over to volunteer groups where possible. o It is easier for RBWM officers to manage cross-boundary maintenance rather than if it was managed at a parish council level. o Parish Councils may have differing priorities to the public. | Andrew Fletcher |
| 9 | LAF Monitoring Items | |
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Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that the missing Link between Footpath 18 Hurley and Footpath 20 Bisham (Speen Hill) had been opened on the 12th May 2012 and a leaflet promoting the Walk had been published by Maidenhead Civic Society and the East Berkshire Ramblers. It was noted that a signage of the route was also being explored. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that discussions were continuing with the landowners on the proposal to create a new public footpath from Lower Cookham Road and Thames Path National Trail. It was noted that a funding contribution of £50,000 towards the cost of creating the proposed new footpath had been secured through a S106 Planning Agreement although it was highlighted that these funds would not become available until commencement of the development and there was no indication that the development was imminent. Andrew Fletcher explained that an alternative source of funding was therefore being explored by Maidenhead Civic Society and the Council.
Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to report which could be found on pages 43 and 44 of the agenda and explained that the Council continued to engage and work with The Conservation Volunteers (formerly BTCV) and the Windsor and Maidenhead Conservation Volunteers (WMVC).
Councillor Beer offered his help by explaining that a fellow Councillor was a tutor at Eton College and was a keen cyclist and walker and might be interested in being involved. Councillor Beer agreed to let him know about the scheme.
Andrew Fletcher explained that the LAF website had been reviewed and updated following the last Forum meeting where the Forum had asked for a report about the number of website hits and the amount of feedback received. It was noted that, whilst complete information was not available, the information that was available could be found on page 44 of the agenda. Andrew Fletcher thanked Julie Mason for her help and support.
Andrew Fletcher explained that the Cookham Easy Going Route web pages had been developed following the advice of the Forum in June. It was noted that the Windsor Great Park leaflet was still in development and had been revised following advice from the Access Advisory Forum. Andrew Fletcher explained that he hoped the leaflet would be ready for publication in January. Andrew Fletcher explained that the web pages would be developed following the template established during the creation of the Cookham Easy Going Route web pages. Julie Mason requested that a mini-map be included to show where the photos shown were located. Andrew Fletcher agreed to implement this. | Andrew Fletcher |
| 12 | Date of Next Meeting | |
| The date of the next meeting of the Local Access Forum, once confirmed, was to be confirmed by the Clerk. The meeting which started at 6.30pm, ended at 8.40pm. | Tanya Leftwich |