Agenda and minutes

Venue: Warspite Room, Council House. View directions

Contact: Ross Johnston, Secretary to the Local Access Forum 

Items
No. Item

11.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members will be asked to make any declarations of interest in respect of items on this Agenda.

Minutes:

The following declarations of interest were made by Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct –

 

Name

Subject

Reason

Interest

Mr Emery

PROW Officer’s Briefing

(minute 15 refers)

Member Open Spaces Society

 

Personal

Councillor G Wheeler

Public Path Diversion Order Application

(minute 16 refers)

Member of Planning Committee

 

Personal

Mr Pawley

 

Public Path Diversion Order Application

(minute 16 refers)

Member of the Ramblers Association

 

Personal

 

12.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 71 KB

The Forum will be asked to confirm the minutes of the 14 June 2010.

Minutes:

Agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2010 be confirmed as a correct record subject to the following amendments.

 

(a)

minute 5 (3) Mr Stuart should actually read Mr Stewart;

 

(b)

minute 8 (a) the paragraph “a coloured map showing the paths have is being held at the council offices and can be viewed by contacting the secretary” should read “a coloured map showing the paths was held at the council offices and could be viewed by contacting the secretary”.

 

 

13.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

New LAF Secretary

Members were informed that Ross Johnston, Democratic Support Officer had taken over the duties as the Secretary to the LAF.

Annual Report 2009/10

Ross Johnston, Secretary to the LAF informed members that –

 

(a)

the LAF were obligated to provide an annual report to Natural England, however an annual report had not been completed and published since 2006/07;

 

 

(b)

a section in the annual report would be for the forums future aspirations;

 

 

(c)

in order to complete the annual report for 2009/10 members were required to provide the following information –

 

 

 

·     

a personal statement highlighting their career history, interests and hobbies, associations and clubs they were affiliated to and any other relevant information;

 

 

·     

a chairman’s foreword.

 

Agreed that –

 

(1)

the Rights of Way Improvement Plan and the Definitive Map would form the main body of the forums future aspirations;

 

(2)

the personal statements and Chairman’s foreword would be submitted to Ross Johnston, Secretary to the LAF by Friday 3 September 2010;

 

(3)

a draft annual report would be provided at the next meeting of the forum.

 

Saltram Countryside Park

Ross Johnston, Secretary to the LAF informed the forum that he had received an email from Kathryn Deeney, Plymouth Green Infrastructure Project Officer regarding Saltram Countryside Park. Members were informed that –

 

(a)

the Saltram Countryside Park master planning study had begun.  It would look at developing a master plan for the Park that increased recreational opportunities, enhanced the landscape, historic, and wildlife assets of the Park and maintained the viability of farming in the area;

 

(b)

the first stage was an open public consultation asking people for their views on what they would like the Park to look like and how they would like to use the Park.  There were going to be a number of consultation opportunities over the next few months and the dates of these would be circulated when they had been finalised;

 

(c)

a stakeholder workshop would be held in early September and it was hoped that a representative of the LAF would be able to attend;

 

(d)

in early Autumn it was hoped that developing options for the Park would begin with a draft master plan being produced early in 2011. There would be further consultation at both of these stages;

 

(e)

the finalised master plan would be produced in early spring 2011 and works would commence early in the new financial year 2011/12;

 

(f)

a link would be distributed to all members so that they could take part in consultation on Saltram Countryside Park.

 

Members commented that public access between Morley Park and Saltram Countryside Park was linked and that the paths at both of these parks could be defined as public rights of way if they were included in the consultation.

 

Agreed that –

 

(1)

Ray Fairchild, Chair and Ian Stewart, Vice Chair of the LAF would be the nominated LAF representatives to attend the stakeholder workshop in early September 2010;

 

(2)

a letter would be sent to Robin Pearce, Public Rights of Way Officer from the LAF stating that they wished for the paths at the Saltram Countryside Park to become public rights of way and that this should be included in the consultation that the park was to undergo.

(In accordance with Section 100(B)(4)(b) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the Chair brought forward the above items for urgent consideration because of the need to consult Members).

14.

RIGHTS OF WAY IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The Forum will consider the draft rights of way improvement plan.

Minutes:

The forum considered the draft Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) and were informed that

 

(a)

the most important aspect of the ROWIP was the action plan where the LAF had a frequent involvement;

 

(b)

the ROWIP would be reported to the LAF on an annual basis and would also form part of the LAFs annual report;

 

(c)

theROWIP was not a finalised document and the LAF were being consulted on the plan at an early stage to allow the forum to have two or three meetings in order to formalise feedback.

 

Members commented that –

 

(d)

they hoped that in reviewing other ROWIPs that the Public Rights of Way Officer had taken on board the experiences gained from elsewhere;

 

(e)

the document would benefit from a structure of how the ROWIP was to be implemented and also the inclusion of a glossary and contents page.

 

15.

PROW OFFICER'S BRIEFING pdf icon PDF 87 KB

The Public Rights of Way Officer will provide a briefing for members of the Forum.

15a

PLANNING APPLICATION FOR COSIE QUARRY - IMPACT ON PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY

Minutes:

Members received a Public Rights of Way briefing note on the Planning Application at Cosie Quarry. Members commented that as a result of the development the public footpath had become obstructed.

 

Members were advised that if they felt that any path was obstructed or needed clearing that they should contact AMEY to report the issue.

15b

SOUTH WEST COASTAL PATH

Minutes:

Members received a Public Rights of Way briefing note on the South West Coast Path closure at Jennycliff. Members commented that the closure of this footpath was dangerous to the public as they were being directed into Stamford Lane.

 

Members were informed that the works on making the path safe and open to the public would be completed in approximately 10 days.

 

Agreed that a letter be sent to Anthony Payne, Director for Development and Regeneration and Councillor Kevin Wigens, Cabinet Member for Transport explaining the LAFs concern about how long the South West Coast Path at Jennycliff has been closed off from the public.

15c

WIDEWELL PLAYING FIELDS

Minutes:

Members received a Public Rights of Way briefing note on Widewell Playing Field. Members commented that –

 

(a)

it was disappointing that the Modification Order Application for Public Rights of Way across Widewell Playing Field was in a queuing system as they felt that this application should be prioritised;

 

(b)

the lack of urgency with the application had put people off being interested and felt that the application process of four years (2008 – 2012) was not good enough;

 

(c)

the plans to build on Widewell Playing Field should be put on hold until the Public Rights of Way Modification Order was completed.

 

Members were informed that –

 

(d)

the queuing system allowed for approximately two applications to be completed per year and currently there were two applications ahead of the Widewell Playing Field Application;

 

(e)

an objective in the Rights of Way Improvement Plan was to create a priority system regarding applications and it was hoped that such a system would be implemented in 2011;

 

(g)

the problem with only two applications being completed per year had a knock on effect to the definitive map and this was an issue that could be resolved with more adequate resourcing.

 

Agreed that a list of the applications waiting in the queuing system be submitted to the next meeting of the forum.

16.

PUBLIC PATH DIVERSION ORDER APPLICATION pdf icon PDF 886 KB

The Forum will consider a response to the consultation on the Public Path Diversion Order Application.

Minutes:

Members received a request for consultation on a public path diversion order application on Hooe Road, Plymouth. It was commented by members that –

 

(a)

the path being closed was a well used route heading to Bovisand;

 

(b)

the application doesn’t give good enough reason to consider approving the diversion;

 

(c)

statutory regulations require the council to show the public path diversion order to divert the footpath was substantially as convenient to the public. The diversion at 325 metres was almost treble the length of the existing footpath. Its width at 1.5 metre was the minimum allowed for an 'edge of field' path. The diverted footpath would not be commodious as it would be within an existing hedge/fence and new post and rail fence giving the user a feeling of being 'penned in' with no means of exit except at the kissing gates at either end of the diverted path.

 

Agreed that the LAF formally object to the proposal for a public path diversion order application at Hooe Lane, Plymstock.

 

(Mr Pawley and Councillor Wheeler declared a personal interest in the above item)

17.

LOCAL TRANSPORT PLAN REVIEW OF CONSULTATION INFORMATION pdf icon PDF 45 KB

The Forum will consider the priorities for the Local Transport Plan (3) and consultation information.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The forum considered the priorities for the Local Transport Plan and the consultation information. Members commented that –

 

(a)

the statistic that stated 57.03% of people were happy with bridleways in the city was misleading and should be deleted due to the fact that Plymouth does not have any official bridleways in the city;

 

(b)

Laira Bridge needed to form a major part of the consultation for the Local Transport Plan.

 

Agreed that –

 

(1)

if members had any comments regarding the priorities or consultation for the Local Transport Plan they should forward them to the Secretary of the LAF who would distribute the comments to the relevant Transport Officer.

 

18.

WORKING GROUPS

18a

POTENTIAL RIGHTS OF WAY WORKING GROUP

To receive a report from the Working Group.

Minutes:

There was no report from the Potential Rights of Way working group.

18b

PLANNING WORKING GROUP

To receive a report from the Working Group.

Minutes:

There was no report from the Planning working group.

19.

CORRESPONDENCE pdf icon PDF 2 MB

To consider any correspondence received and note any correspondence sent by the Forum.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Forum received the following correspondence –

 

(a)

a letter from Barbara Mickley to the Head of Legal Services regarding the land at Oreston Recreational Ground;

 

(b)

a copy of the consultation response submitted to DEFRA by Ray Fairchild, Chair on the proposed regulations on procedures for representations and objections under schedule 1A to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, as inserted by Schedule 19 to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009;

 

(c)

a response to the Forum from Anthony Payne, Director for Development and Regeneration on the Coastal Footpath and Hooe Lake bridge link.

 

Ray Fairchild, Chair also informed the forum that he would provide all members with a copy of the consultation response he was sending to the English Access Forum.

 

Agreed that a letter be sent on behalf of the forum to Anthony Payne, Director for Development and Regeneration and David Shepperd, Head of Legal Services explaining the forums concern about the closure of open space at the land at Oreston Recreational Ground;

20.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

To discuss any business that, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

Minutes:

Ray Fairchild, Chair of the LAF advised the forum that in October there was a South West LAF meeting being held in Taunton. If members were interested in attending they should register their interest with the Secretary of the LAF.