Name

Subject

Reason

Interest

Mr Skinner

Item 39. Ridgeway School Extinguishment Order

Member of the Ramblers and Open Spaces Society.

Personal

Mr Emery

Item 39. Ridgeway School Extinguishment Order

Member of the Ramblers and Open Spaces Society.

Personal

Councillor Wheeler

Item 39. Ridgeway School Extinguishment Order

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Councillor Wheeler

Item 45. Planning Consultation – Barrier Busting

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Councillor Wheeler

Item 48. Working Groups

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Councillor Churchill

Item 39. Ridgeway School Extinguishment Order

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Councillor Churchill

Item 45. Barrier Busting

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Councillor Churchill

Item 48. Working Groups

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

Mr Pawley

Item 43. Public Slipways Update

Secretary of Mayflower Boat Owner Association and the local representative for the South West Coast Path

Personal

Mr Pawley

Item 44. South West Coast Path Update

Secretary of Mayflower Boat Owner Association and the local representative for the South West Coast Path

Personal

MrCurno

Item 43. Public Slipways Update

Representative of the Royal Yachting Association

Personal

Mrs Rodgers

Item 48. Working Groups

Employed by the National Trust

Personal

(1)

28.03.11- minute 67 position statements would be included as an agenda item for discussion at the Forum meeting on 12 March 2011;

(2)

12.09.11 – minute 30 a site visit would be arranged for the afternoon of the next Forum meeting on 12 March 2011.

(a)

the National LAF meeting would be held in Bristol on 6 March 2012 with one member from each LAF invited to attend;

(b)

it was hoped that a new national co-ordinator would be appointed by Natural England in January 2012;

(c)

Huddle was a new user friendly network website for LAF’s to use, although at present there was only enough funding available to have three members from each LAF licensed to use the site. The licences would be reviewed in the future with the aim of having all LAF members licensed to use the site;

(d)

there was a new requirement on LAF’s to produce an annual report in an approved pro-forma to enable DEFRA to collate and compare data more efficiently;

(e)

Plymouth had recently been successful in acquiring funding to develop a Local Nature Partnership and this should provide an exciting opportunity for LAF’s to have a positive and influential role in getting involved in the future of nature within the local area;

(f)

a new government scheme was being developed called ‘Paths for Communities’ which would provide grants to landowners to work with local communities on improving access and public rights of way.

(1)

a letter is sent to Colin Jones, former national co-ordinator for Natural England, thanking him for his service and contribution to the LAF in the past;

(2)

Dot Isgrove, Natural England, would provide an email on the new ‘Paths for Communities’ scheme to be distributed to all members;

(3)

Ray Fairchild, Chair will attend the National LAF Conference on 6 March 2012 and John Skinner will be the first choice reserve member;

(4)

Dot Isgrove is thanked for her attendance.

(a)

there was an administrative error in the Order which had meant that the order had to be quashed and a new Order made;

(b)

following the advertisement period a decision would be taken by Plymouth City Council legal officers as to whether the order would need to be re-submitted to the Planning Committee.

(a)

the LAF members’ contribution to the project through information provided on walks in and around Whitleigh was much appreciated;

(b)

the project, which aimed to improve travel in Whitleigh by making it safer and more sustainable, had focused on three main themes walking, cycling and public opinion;

(c)

public opinion had been gathered through leaflet responses and from public engagement sessions in school play-grounds and doctor surgeries;

(d)

the main concerns raised by the public regarded high traffic speeds and children’s safety;

(e)

improvements to be implemented in Whitleigh included –

·         

‘welcome to Whitleigh’ signage;

·         

’20 is plenty’ signage to encourage motorists to drive slower;

·         

improvements to bus stop accessibility on Taunton Avenue;

·         

improvements to school crossing patrols and re-inforcing school keep clear zones;

(f)

in order to deliver the improvements the Sustainable Transport Team would work with the local community, the Police, access to nature projects and local public transport providers;

(g)

the Sustainable Transport Team were also working with the Road Safety Team to improve local children’s education on road safety throughout all local schools;

(h)

to promote walking in the Whitleigh area a number of local footpaths had been identified to be defined as public rights of way and to be improved with maintenance and signage;

(i)

the main improvements in the area were behavioural or cultural rather than engineering changes and as such it was hoped that these would all be implemented in the 2011 – 2012 financial year.

(a)

a Local Nature Partnership (LNP) was being developed in Plymouth and a group of consultants had been tasked with appointing to the LNP;

(b)

Plymouth LAF was a nominated body for the consultants to approach when appointing members to the LNP;

(c)

theLNP was a separate entity to the Nature Improvement Area (NIA).

(a)

the initial investment of £10k had been increased to £17k and there was a possibility that a further £16k could be added to the funding as other transport initiatives were unlikely to spend allocated monies; this money would continue to be spent on the republication of the South West Coast Path booklet and improvements to the historic trails;

(b)

the republication of the South West Coast Path booklet was progressing well with local historian Chris Robinson  and a local design firm commissioned to design and print the booklet;

(c)

the South West Coast Path booklet was hoped to be launched in March 2012 with the forum being provided with an opportunity to review the booklet before publication;

(d)

five historic city centre footpaths were being improved through increased and re-designed signage;

(e)

it was hoped that if further money was received then another five historic footpaths in the city would be created.

(a)

a number of improvements to the public slipways website were being undertaken following suggestions from Dave Pawley and Dave Curno, LAF Members;

(b)

the Parking Department had been working with the Cattewater Harbour Commission to deliver improvements to signage at a number of public slipways.

(a)

new signage at Breakwater Road had now been fully erected;

(b)

improvements and engineering works would be undertaken at the currently closed Jennicliffe section of the South West Coast Path in early 2012 and it was hoped that the path would be open to the public by the end of February 2012.

(a)

Natural England had purchased licenses for only three LAF members to access Huddle, however, it was hoped that all LAF members would receive access in the future;

(b)

there was a concern that the Huddle site could lead to the loss of the Regional Co-ordinator;

(c)

there was a request from Natural England for the LAF to nominate three members to be users of Huddle and for one member to be nominated as LAF Champion.

(1)

Ray Fairchild, Chair is nominated as the LAF Huddle Champion;

(2)

Dave Curno and Ross Johnston, LAF Secretary are nominated as the two other licence holders to access Huddle.

(a)

a group of LAF members met with Jim Pascoe, National Trust, to have a tour and discussion on the proposed Plym Valley Cycle Trail. Following this meeting the members agreed that the LAF would make no formal objection to the planning application;

(b)

since this meeting the Plym Valley Cycle Trail planning application had been withdrawn.

(c)

the application had been withdrawn following a legal covenant being discovered in the area that the café was proposed to be sited;

(d)

the whole application was being reviewed and as such a public consultation programme would be undertaken for a period of approximately six months;

(e)

in order to collate the consultation information received a key stakeholder group would be set up in January 2012.