Local Access Forum
Tuesday 3 December 2013 6.30 pm
ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM MEETING MINUTES
3 December 2013
ATTENDANCE LIST
| Name | Interest area |
| Peter Thorn | Chairman, land management |
| Harry Hancock | Vice Chairman, walking, open spaces, Mid-Thames Ramblers |
| Councillor Beer | Walking, cycling, Old Windsor Parish Council |
| Sara Church Margaret Cubley | Horse Riding, British Horse Society Walking, Access issues, Bisham Parish Council |
| John Foulger Christine Gadd Gordon Harris | Walking, open spaces, public rights of way Footpaths, open spaces, Cookham Parish Council |
| Andrew Fletcher | Local Access Forum Secretary |
| Tanya Leftwich | Clerk to the Forum |
| OBSERVERS |  |
| Annie Keene | |
APOLOGIES
Name
| Councillor John Stretton Hilary Essen |
| Julie Mason Joanne Stickland |
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| Joanne Stickland |
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ROYAL BOROUGH OF WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM
3 December 2013
MINUTES
LOCAL ACCESS FORUM
3 December 2013
MINUTES
| ACTION | |
| 1 | Welcome, Apologies and Introductions, Declarations of Interest | |
| The Chairman Peter Thorn welcomed everyone to the twenty-ninth meeting of the Local Access Forum. Apologies for Absence were received from Councillor John Stretton, Hilary Essen, Julie Mason, and Joanne Stickland. The Forum wished Hilary Essen a speedy recovery. The Forum, although not quorate, approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 27 June 2013. It was agreed that Andrew Fletcher would seek final approval of the decisions of the LAF subsequent to the meeting. Item 1.1 = Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that he had sourced suitable stickers to go onto the finger signs in the Royal Borough and landowners who had expressed an interest in specific signs for their land had been contacted regarding the type of information they wished to display. It was noted that bespoke laminated signs would be supplied by the Council upon request. It was suggested that the Ramblers Association and Parish Councils might assist in fixing the stickers to the relevant signs. Councillor Beer agreed to fix the stickers to the relevant signs in Old Windsor and Sara Church agreed to cover Eton. Andrew Fletcher agreed to chase up, in the New Year, the bespoke signs that included small maps and a troubleshooting telephone number. Item 2.1 = Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that links to the Nature in Parks leaflets had been included in the related links on the public rights of way publications page. Item 2.2 = It was noted that an email had been sent to the Council’s Leisure team and Communications team to look at improving the links and combining information where possible on the RBWM website. Item 2.3 = The Forum was informed that the Nature in Parks leaflets currently contained contact information for members of the public. Item 5.1 = Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that Phil Smith had agreed to be part of the LAF Fast Response Team and it was noted that one additional member representing land management interests was needed to balance the group. Volunteers were asked to contact Andrew Fletcher. Item 6.1 = It was noted that the LAF annual report for 2012-2013 had been published. Item 6.2 = The Forum was informed that the Natural England pro-forma had been completed and sent to Natural England. Item 7.1 = Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that advice received was that the signs and set up for the multi-use route were fine and that provided the surface was suitable there was unlikely to be any liability issue for the Council if an accident was to occur on the multi-use path. Item 8.1 = Andrew Fletcher explained that the entire RBWM website was in the process of being reviewed and revamped and until then this project had been put on hold. Item 9.1 = Andrew Fletcher agreed to contact Healthwatch to see if they could assist the LAF in joining the Council‘s Health and Wellbeing Board or at least mention its existence and role. It was agreed that more information would be brought to the next meeting. Item 9.2 = It was noted that the materials from the South East Local Access Forum conference had been added to the GroupSpaces site on the 1st July 2013. | AF AF ALL AF |
| 2 | Members’ Update | |
| Harry Hancock informed the Forum that he had attended the last Bucks County Council LAF meeting which he had found very interesting. The Forum was informed that there was a closed railway line in Bucks that ran from Oxford to Cambridge which cut through the north of the county which was due to be re-opened. It was noted that the trains would run at 125mph which meant level crossings could not be used resulting in new bridges needing to be constructed which was costly. Harry Hancock informed the Forum that the Chiltern Conservation Board had been given £868,000 to develop cycling in the Chilterns and that an electric charging point had been installed in Henley Station. Harry Hancock went on to inform the Forum that a new group had been formed called Chiltern Romability which aimed to promote access to the countryside for disabled people of all types. It was noted that this new group campaigned for stiles / gates to be removed and were looking to make five well known beauty spots in the Chilterns a priority. Harry Hancock informed the Forum that Bucks County Council had transferred its Rights of Way Team to a private sub-contractor who would be responsible for maintenance on an on-going exclusive contract for seven years. It was noted that in the first year the Bucks Forum had stated that there had been a marked deterioration in the standard of service which they considered to be unacceptable. Harry Hancock went onto explain that the Bucks Forum wanted to establish reasons for the decline in service as the transfer had raised a number of concerns, and were asking what safeguards were in place to maintain standards. Harry Hancock agreed to provide a further update at the next meeting. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that on-going discussions were taking place in Old Windsor with regard to disabled access and footpath gates. It was noted that an operated gate solution was being investigated which would allow use by mobility scooters but also prevent children running ahead into the road. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that a roadside barrier had been considered but was not feasible as it would obstruct access to driveways. Councillor Beer explained that this would be on the busy Straight Road through Old Windsor near to the speed camera. | HH |
| 3 | Membership update | |
| General Forum membership Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that everyone had been invited to re-apply and that all members had been approved. It was noted that Dorothy Allard had stood down from the Forum. LAF Fast Response Team membership Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that Phil Smith had joined the Fast Response Team which currently stood at three members. It was noted that the team had a post vacant for a member with land management interests. Andrew Fletcher asked members to volunteer to join the Fast Response Team if they were able. | ALL |
| 4 | Election of Chair & Vice Chair | |
| It was agreed that this item would be deferred to the next meeting. | |
| 5 | Milestones Statement and targets 2013/2014 consultation | |
| Andrew Fletcher gave everyone a short presentation ‘An analysis of the Public Rights of Way network’ which covered the state of the network, a few figures about the number of gates, bridges, stiles, barriers, steps, boardwalks and signpost and waymark posts in the Royal Borough, the number of outstanding issues, a breakdown of the number of issues resolved in 2013, a breakdown of the number of outstanding issues and work in progress (before and after photos). The Chairman congratulated Andrew Fletcher and his team on their achievements. Andrew Fletcher updated the Forum on the progress of the Milestone Targets for 2013/14:
The following milestone targets for 2014/15 were agreed by the Forum:
The Forum agreed the following work programme for the coming year:
| AF |
| 6 | Improvements for cycling in Maidenhead | |
| Peter Thorn informed the Forum that Hilary Essen was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting to address her item. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that there had been 161 injury collisions involving cyclists reported over the last three years. It was noted that of these incidents they had occurred in urban areas, in the centre of Maidenhead (and towards the A4) and in the centre of Windsor (and near the A308). Christine Gadd explained that a safe cycling and walking route to and from Charters School was included as part of their Neighbourhood Plan. Peter Thorn informed the Forum that he would ask Hilary Essen to publish a note to the forum’s ‘GroupSpaces’ website and give an update at the next meeting. It was suggested that Gordon Oliver (the RBWM Principal Transport Policy Officer) be invited to attend a future meeting and address the Forum on cycling. Councillor Beer volunteered to attend a Windsor workshop on this subject if Hilary Essen was unable to attend. | PT AF Councillor Beer |
| 7 | Horse riding and multi-use routes | |
| Sara Church informed the Forum that a lot of riders she had come into contact with had said the multi-use routes were brilliant. Andrew Fletcher informed the Forum that he had only received two responses to the multi-use routes – one was a complaint about horse dung and the other response from an Eton resident was to request that it be made permanent. Sara Church agreed to encourage more support for the multi-use routes from fellow horse riders. It was noted that the multi-use route would be reviewed in May 2014 Peter Thorn suggested that Andrew Fletcher write to Parish Councils to ask them to help identify multi-user paths/routes. | SC AF |
| 8 | Authorised structure register | |
| Andrew Fletcher referred everyone to the authorised structure register that he had distributed at the start of the meeting. The Forum felt that a list of authorised structures would not be particularly useful to most people, however the Forum recommended that a map containing layers of information be added to the web to show the locations of the stiles, gates, and other path furniture. | AF |
| 9 | LAF Monitoring items | |
| Easy going routes Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to page 13 of the agenda. Peter Thorn suggested that Andrew Fletcher write to the Access Advisory Forum & Parish Councils to ask them to help identify potential new areas for Easy Going Routes. Public rights of way information booklet Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to page 13 of the agenda. Thanks to Julie Mason were recorded. Volunteer works Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to pages 13&14 of the agenda. It was noted that no further volunteer works had been scheduled at present, but The Conservation Volunteers have submitted a bid for grant funding for works in 2014/2015. LAF members’ discussion forum Andrew Fletcher referred the Forum to page 14 of the agenda. Andrew Fletcher explained that he was keen to encourage everyone to use the LAF online forum at is was a useful way for members to discuss issues between scheduled meetings. It was suggested that the LAF online forum be opened up and made available to other interested associations such as horse riding groups, etc. | AF All AF |
| 10 | Activities of the LAF Fast Response Team | |
| The Forum was referred to pages 15-18 of the agenda. | |
| 11 | Date of Next Meeting | |
| The date of the next meeting of the Local Access Forum was to be confirmed. The meeting which started at 6.30pm, ended at 9.20pm. | |