Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall - Maidenhead

Contact: Tanya Leftwich  01628 796345

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies for Absence

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Lynda Yong, Colin Rayner (Lead Member for Highways and Transport) and Carwyn Cox (Lead Member for Environmental Services).

 

It was announced by the Chairman that the meeting was being recorded.

 

2.

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

None.

3.

Minutes

To confirm the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on the 20 July 2015.

Minutes:

That the Part I minutes of the Panel held on the 20 July 2015 were agreed to be correct.

4.

Public Rights of Way Management and Improvement Plan 2016-2026 pdf icon PDF 200 KB

To seek the Panel’s approval to publish the “Public Rights of Way Management and Improvement Plan 2016-2026”, in Appendix 1.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Principal Rights of Way Officer, Anthony Hurst, informed Members that the report sought the Panel’s approval to publish the “Public Rights of Way Management and Improvement Plan 2016-2026”, in Appendix 1.  It was noted that all local highway authorities had a statutory duty to publish and review their Public Rights of Way Improvement Plans every ten years. The Principal Rights of Way Officer explained that the Royal Borough’s current Plan ran from 2005-2015 and the replacement Plan would cover the period 2016-2026. The Plan before the Panel set out the Council’s strategy for managing and improving the public rights of way network and other accessible routes in the Royal Borough over the next ten years. Members were informed that following a statutory consultation on the Draft Plan during August/October a number of comments had been received as set out in Appendix 2, and consequently some amendments had been made to the Plan.

 

The Principal Rights of Way Officer showed Members before and after photos of improvement works that had taken place throughout the year.  Members were informed that there was a total of 307km of public rights of way in the Royal Borough which equated to 32% of the total highway network (967km).  The Principal Rights of Way Officer explained the differences to Members between the types of public rights of way (footpath, bridleway, restricted byway and byway open to all traffic). 

 

Members were referred to pages 20 – 21 of the agenda which showed the twelve new or upgraded routes that had been created in the 2005-2015 Plan.  The Chairman thanked the East Berkshire Ramblers for all they had done (physical help, funds, etc) for the Royal Borough which was echoed by the Panel.  It was suggested that a letter be drafted from the Mayor to thank the volunteer groups involved in the improvement work.

 

Members were referred to page 22 of the agenda which showed the results of the public satisfaction survey 2015: National Highways and Transport Network.  Members were informed that the Royal Borough had scored high in all seven categories and the highest in the South East in the ‘provision of  information on public rights of way’ category.  The Chairman praised the Principal Rights of Way Officer and his team for achieving such high scores.  It was noted that this success would be promoted in the Around the Royal Borough newsletter. 

 

Members were referred to the Plan on pages 23 – 49 of the agenda which showed the consultation responses.  It was noted that the Ascot, Sunninghill and Sunningdale Neighbourhood Plan Delivery Group had put forward a lot of suggestions which could be found on pages 44 – 46.  Members noted the proposal that the paths listed on pages 47 – 49  should be recorded as either adopted highway, public rights of way or as permitted paths, although the process for achieving this would require further investigation on a case-by-case basis in discussion with the relevant landowners.

 

The Principal Rights of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Dates of Future Meetings

·                   Thursday 10 March 2016.

Minutes:

Thursday 10 March 2016.

 

The Chairman asked for the Panels thanks to be minuted to everyone who had helped with the improvement works over the past year in particular the East Berkshire Ramblers, the Local Access Forums, volunteer groups and the Rights of Way team and congratulated the Rights of Way Team on being voted the best team in all councils in the South East for the provision of information about rights of way.

 

The Chairman wished everyone a very Happy Christmas.