Agenda and minutes

Plymouth Local Access Forum - Monday 8 September 2014 10.30 am

Venue: Council House, Plymouth (Next to the Civic Centre)

Contact: Lynn Young  Email: laf@plymouth.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

18.

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 in accordance with the Code of Conduct –

 

Name

Subject

Reason

Interest

Mr Pawley

South West Coast Path

Representative for the South West Coast Path Association

Personal

Councillor Wheeler

Planning applications

Member of the Planning Committee

Personal

 

19.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 90 KB

The Forum will be asked to confirm the minutes of the 16 June 2014.

Minutes:

Members reviewed the minutes and commented that minute 10(d) should read ‘the land at former RM Turnchapel had been purchased by Yacht Haven and would be used for engineering purposes.  The South West Coast Path would oppose any proposal to close access to the road to the site’.

 

Agreed that subject to minute 10(d) being amended as above the minutes of the meeting held on 16 June 2014 are confirmed as a correct record.

 

 

20.

CHAIR'S URGENT BUSINESS

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

Minutes:

There were no items of Chair’s urgent business.

21.

TRACKING RESOLUTIONS pdf icon PDF 28 KB

To monitor progress on previous resolutions.

Minutes:

The tracking resolutions document was discussed and updated.

 

Rosemary Starr (Smarter Choices Manager) advised the Forum that Jon Shaw, Professor of Transport Geography at Plymouth University had agreed to attend the LAF meeting in March 2015.

 

Agreed that Rosemary Starr (Smarter Choices Manager) would contact Pauline Burrows (Parking Systems Manager) requesting an update for the Forum at the December meeting.

22.

PLYMOUTH PLAN

Jessica Vaughan, Planning Officer, will provide members with an update on the Plymouth Plan.

Minutes:

Jessica Vaughan (Planning Officer, Neighbourhood Planning Team), gave a presentation on the Plymouth Plan consultation process.  Members were advised that –

 

(a)

the Plymouth Plan was a single strategic plan for the city and would bring together all the city’s long term strategic plans into one place, incorporating the strategic policy elements of plans such as the Local Transport Plan, the Local Nature Partnership and the Local Economic Strategy;

 

(b)

the consultation for this plan started last year; the next phase of consultation for the Plymouth Plan had begun and would run until Saturday 25 October 2014;

 

(c)

community groups had been given the opportunity to discuss the Plymouth Plan, and packs were available to facilitate this.  The Plymouth Octopus Project (POP) were supporting this initiative;

 

(d)

there were currently 23 topic papers, covering nine themes, available to view online, with paper copies available on request and at local libraries (the final topic paper would soon be available, making a total of 24);

 

(e)

there were eight Plymouth Plan Area Assessments (PPAAs) which covered the entire city.  The aim of these documents was to provide an overview of the current situation in a particular Plymouth Plan Area in terms of social, economic and environmental characteristics, based upon factual evidence sources such as the 2011 Census and Experian Mosaic data.

 

Following members’ questions it was reported that –

 

(f)

the Planning Team were aware of the importance of young people getting involved in the Plymouth Plan and wanted to involve schools wherever possible;

(g)

the LAF were not a statutory consultee for the Plymouth Plan at the present time;

 

(h)

the LAF were invited to submit a response to the Plymouth Plan consultation;

 

(i)

the Local Development Framework and the Local Transport Plan would remain extant until the Plymouth Plan was formally adopted in 2017;

 

(j)

Rights of Way would be covered in various sections of the Plymouth Plan.

 

Agreed that a meeting would be held in the week beginning 13 October to discuss the Plymouth Plan.  A Doodle meeting request would be sent out to all members to determine the most suitable date.

 

The Chair thanked Jessica Vaughan for her report.

23.

HUDDLE HOT TOPICS pdf icon PDF 70 KB

To discuss any issues arising from the July and August editions of Huddle Hot Topics.

 

Minutes:

The Forum noted the latest version of Huddle Hot Topics.

24.

WORKING GROUPS

To agree any working groups for items on this agenda.

Minutes:

(a)

Agreed that a working group would be convened to discuss the Plymouth Plan.  It was planned to hold the meeting in the week beginning 13 October and a Doodle meeting request would be sent out to all members to determine the most suitable date;

 

(b)

Ray Fairchild, Chair, advised the Forum that it would be beneficial to set up a working group in order to be prepared should another tranche of funding be released under the Paths for Communities (P4C) scheme.  Rosemary Starr advised the Forum that it would be beneficial to conduct preliminary work in preparation.

 

Agreed that Rosemary Starr would provide the Forum with a generic template to assist with the completion of applications for grants and bids in general.

 

25.

LOCAL ACCESS FORUM (LAF) RECRUITMENT PROPOSALS

The Public Rights of Way Officer will provide members with a verbal update on the proposals for recruiting new members to the Forum.

Minutes:

Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised the Forum of the proposed recruitment proposals. 

 

The Forum was advised that –

 

(a)

the aim was to recruit more members to the Forum through a proactive recruitment process;

 

(b)

there was the capacity to have a membership of 22; there were currently 13 members and 9 vacancies;

 

(c)

current vacancies on the PLAF were being advertised through:-

 

  • the PLAF webpage www.plymouth.gov.uk/laf;
  • information in the August edition of the Plymotion newsletter which is distributed to more than 3000 households who have spoken to a Plymotion travel advisor and have asked to be kept informed about sustainable transport in Plymouth. The newsletter will also be available online at www.plymouth.gov.uk/plymotiononyourdoorstep;
  • a copy of the PLAF leaflet being sent out with copies of the Co-Operative Way and South West Coast Path booklets;
  • copies of the PLAF leaflet being available for the Plymotion travel advisors to issue;
  • copies of the PLAF leaflet being sent to libraries;
  • social media – there is the potential to Tweet about the vacancies;
  • information being provided to Plymouth University;
  • information being provided to the University of the 3rd Age (U3A);
  • information being shared with colleagues at Plymouth Community Healthcare for inclusion on the Livewell Website;

 

(d)

online recruitment would be considered in the future;

 

Following members’ questions, the Forum was advised that –

 

(e)

the proposed recruitment process was based on the Plymouth City Council recruitment process which had been tried and tested over many years;

 

(f)

the recruitment process would be an ongoing process until all vacancies had been filled; the process would continue on completion of full membership to keep on top of membership changes;

 

(f)

the Design Team had been tasked with designing a new logo and letterhead to convey a more professional image for the Forum;

 

(g)

the Public Rights of Way Officer was not necessarily aware of all walking organisations in Plymouth;

 

(h)

it was recognised that LAF recruitment was a national challenge.

 

26.

LOCAL ACCESS FORUM (LAF) TERMS OF REFERENCE pdf icon PDF 233 KB

The Forum will review their Terms of Reference (ToRs).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised the Forum that the Terms of Reference (ToRs) needed to be updated as the current terms had been drafted on the 2003 regulations and did not take account of the 2011 regulations.

 

Both the current and proposed ToRs were discussed, and members recommended several changes.  

27.

WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 181 KB

To receive the Forum’s Work Programme for 2014 – 2015.

Minutes:

The Forum reviewed and updated its Forward Work programme.

28.

CORRESPONDENCE pdf icon PDF 22 KB

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

Minutes:

The Forum noted the submitted correspondence, and discussed the findings contained therein.

 

The Forum was advised that in relation to the Modification Order application for the ‘Addition of a footpath from Lulworth Drive to Tavistock Road’, the Planning Committee agreed had followed the officer recommendation and declined to make any Order; the formal resolution being –

 

‘Agreed that the Committee do not make the Modification Order in relation to Lulworth Drive to Tavistock Road as evidence submitted by the applicant was not robust enough to support the view that public rights subsist or could be reasonably alleged to subsist’.

 

The Public Rights of Way Officer advised the Forum that several Modification Orders were being progressed and would be ready to go to Planning Committee in the near future.

 

 

 

29.

ISSUES ARISING FROM FORUM MEMBERS

To discuss any issues brought forward by members of the Forum.

Minutes:

Forum members raised the following issues –

 

·         John Emery advised that the LAF pages were still showing incorrect membership information.  Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised that the pages would be updated to reflect the correct membership;

 

·         Dave Pawley advised that he was still waiting to hear who owned the land at the Cattewater rail spur.  Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised that Plymouth City Council had written to Railtrack to determine their long term plans for the site;

 

·         Dave Pawley advised that there was a proposal to continue the South West Coast Path around Millbay Port.  A resident of Millbay Marina Village had been in contact with the South West Coast Path Association regarding this proposal and had been advised to contact Plymouth City Council.  Rosemary Starr (Smarter Choices Manager) advised that this proposal was pledge number 38 of the 50 pledges published by Plymouth City Council in May 2014, and was an active project currently being worked on by her team.  Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised that there were currently two proposals for this new path, but there were a number of issues involved.  The Smarter Choices team were due to meet with the Planning team to discuss this issue;

 

·         John Emery advised that the LAF had not been consulted on Plymouth City Council’s proposals for The Ride, even though the Forum were a statutory consultee.  The LAF Secretary advised that the consultation document for The Ride had been circulated to Forum members by e-mail.

 

 

 

 

30.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held at 10.30 am on Monday 15 December 2014 at the Council House, Plymouth.

Minutes:

Agreed that the next meeting of the Forum is held at 10.30 am on Monday 15 December 2014.