The Chairman, Peter Thorn, informed the Forum that he would take this item next as William Emmett may need to leave before the end of the meeting.

The Forum was referred to pages 163-166 of the agenda which informed the Forum on the current procedures for reporting obstructions caused by ploughing and cropping to the Rural Payments Agency.  William Emmett stated that cross compliance reporting was something that the Forum had debated in the past but that he had wanted to raise it again today to get the Forums thoughts. 

William Emmett explained that the farming community worked well with Andrew Fletcher to alter byways to restricted byways to tackle unsavoury activities such as fly tipping that were stopping people from enjoying the area.  However, William Emmett, went onto explain that he was concerned there had been six issues of enforcement action made against farmers in the South of the Borough.  It was noted that enforcement action had taken place where a footpath had not been cleared or marked 100% in line with the code / regulations (Common Agricultural Policy).  William Emmett explained that there had been two ongoing inspections in the South of the Borough and that consequences were enormous and could be financially damaging to local farmers.  It was noted that once reported the Rural Payments Agency inspectors then looked at all aspects of your business.

William Emmett went onto show the Forum some photos to help explain his concerns. 

William Emmett explained that he felt the process used by the Council needed to be softened a bit. 

James Copas asked Andrew Fletcher why farmers were not called directly after a compliant was received by the Council rather than it being reported officially.   Andrew Fletcher explained that this was the case and that most of the time phone calls worked perfectly well and that the 14 days were counted from the day the issue was reported.  It was noted that if the 14 days were exceeded then the issue was reported to the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). 

RESOLVED: That the Forum recommended to the Council that the procedure for dealing with ploughing and cropping issues be changed to the following:

1.   Make first contact with farmers via telephone to explain the report or issue. This telephone call should agree the date with the farmer for the resolution of the issue based upon the 14 day deadline. Explain that if the works are not done by this deadline the issue will be reported to the RPA.
Take the 14 day deadline from the date that the farmer is contacted. Where necessary agree extension of this deadline up to 28 days, for example where ground conditions do not allow proper reinstatement.

2.   Farmer to contact RBWM when the works have been done, providing photographic evidence.

3.   If the agreed deadline has not been met this should then be reported to the RPA.

v  Action (AF): To meet with the Rural Forum to explain this new process and gain contact details for all local farmers.

It was noted that the above recommendations would be reported to the Rights of Way and Highways Licensing Panel on 07 March 2016.