Agenda and minutes

Plymouth Local Access Forum - Monday 23 October 2017 10.30 am

Venue: Warspite Room, Council House. View directions

Contact: Helen Rickman Email: laf@plymouth.gov.uk

Items

No.

Item

21.

Appointment of Vice Chair

To appoint a Vice Chair for this meeting.

Minutes:

The Forum was advised that the Vice Chair’s membership had elapsed.

Agreed that Mr Pawley is Vice Chair for this meeting.

22.

Declarations of Interest

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

Minutes:

The following declaration of interest was 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
Mr Curno	Plymouth Open Spaces and Friends of Ham Woods.	Representative for Plymouth open spaces and friends of ham woods.	Personal

23.

Minutes PDF 63 KB

The Forum will be asked to confirm the minutes of the 13 February 2017.

Minutes:

Agreed the minutes of the meeting held on 13 February 2017.

24.

Chair's Urgent Business

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

Minutes:

Under this item Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised that Mrs Hitchens’ term of membership for the LAF had expired and she had made the decision not to reapply.

Agreed that a letter of thanks would be sent to Mrs Hitchens thanking her for her service to the Local Access Forum over the many years that she had been a Member.

25.

Recruitment Update

To receive an update on the recruitment of LAF Members.

Minutes:

Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) advised Members that due to unforeseen circumstances the Local Access Forum interviews, for Members whose membership had expired, were postponed and would be rearranged shortly. Members were also advised that Robin had received several expressions of interest from members of the public interested in joining the LAF; they would also need to be interviewed.

26.

Central Park Update

To receive an update on Central Park.

Minutes:

Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) provided Forum Members with an update on Central Park and confirmed that the Council had reached out to over 26000 people regarding the Central Park Masterplan and 118 completed surveys had been returned in response. Members were advised that there were several opportunities for them to engage with this process at several events planned.

Comments from Forum members included:

(a)	several parks in Plymouth had received money to enhance facilities;
(b)	parking was an issue in this area of the city, particularly when Plymouth Argyle were playing football matches at home, as the carpark wasn’t considered big enough and supporters were forced to park in surrounding residential areas. It was considered that this problem would be further increased when the new hotel, shops and ice rink was due to be built;
(c)	local residents living near Home Park were sometimes blocked in their homes on match days due to inconsiderate parking; some Forum Members had heard that a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) was due to be implemented in this area alleviating the problems experienced. Paul Barnard (Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) advised Forum Members that he was not aware of the proposal for a CPZ in this area however Members would be provided with confirmation;
(d)	green space was important for health and wellbeing and helped to reduce stress.

27.

Huddle Update

To receive a Huddle Update.

Minutes:

Forum Members confirmed that they had received the Huddle Updates forwarded by the Secretary.

28.

Working Groups

To agree any working groups for items on this agenda.

Minutes:

Members discussed their recent walk along Blunts Lane and Bircham Valley and Officers provided an update on public rights of way in that location.

Under this item the following updates were provided:

(a)	Mr Skinner advised Forum Members of Natural England’s proposal to improve coastal access along the South West Coast Path; the proposal went out to consultation and had been submitted to the Secretary of State for determination;
(b)	Mr Skinner provided Forum Members with an update on the coast path running past Lee Abbey; there was dispute as to whether the path should be seaward of the abbey;
(c)	Mr Pawley advised Forum Member’s that developments were in the pipeline in West Hoe and the possible effect this would have upon the inclusion of a footpath near the marina;
(d)	Councillor Wheeler advised Members that Stonehouse Barracks was due to be released from the MOD and suggested that a working group was arranged to identify publicly accessible areas; it was agreed that Mr Pawley would coordinate this working group.

Agreed that –

the Public Rights of Way Officer would keep Local Access Forum Members updated on public rights of way linked to Poole Farm and its inclusion on the definitive map;

Mr Pawley would coordinate a working group to walk along West Hoe and the future Marina Development;

Mr Pawley would coordinate a working group to walk near Stonehouse Barracks in order to identify publicly available areas.

29.

Work Programme

To discuss items for the work programme.

Minutes:

Forum Members discussed the merits of populating a work programme.

Agreed that

(a)

the Chair and Mr Stewart would agree a draft work programme; this would help to structure meetings;

(b)

working groups previously discussed would be included on the work programme.

Under this item Paul Barnard (Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure encouraged Forum Members to look at the Joint Local Plan and support the Council’s funding bids for projects.

30.

Correspondence

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

Minutes:

There were no items of correspondence discussed.

31.

Date of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held at 10.30 am on 18 December 2017 at the Council House.

Minutes:

Members noted the date of the next meeting scheduled to take place on 18 December 2017 at 10.30am in the Council House.

32.

Issues arising from Forum Members

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

Minutes:

Under this item Paul Barnard (Assistant Director for Strategic Planning and Infrastructure) provided Forum Members with an update on the Joint Local Plan. He advised Members that the Joint Local Plan had been submitted to Government and Inspectors had been appointed to assess the Plan; the Plan committed the Council to continue the David Mackey vision for the city. It was considered that the Joint Local Plan would be of interest to the Local Access Forum due to the specific references to rights of way and the relationship between them and healthy lifestyles, as well as the strategic approach to the natural environment. Members were advised that the Inspectors were due to come to Plymouth and assess the plan for a period of 2-3 weeks and that there would be sessions arranged which were open to the public, for Inspectors to question Officers. The web address containing further information would be included in the minutes

(https://www.plymouth.gov.uk/planningandbuildingcontrol/plymouthandsouthwestdevonjointlocalplan)

Members requested that Robin Pearce (Public Rights of Way Officer) update them on outstanding public rights of way. Members were advised that the Council won the public enquiry regarding the public rights of way at the Kloof; Members requested that the Inspectors report is emailed to them and that the link to the report is contained within the minutes.

Mr Attrill raised his concerns that the process for reporting paths was now more complicated and time consuming due to the formatting of the online form; Robin confirmed that he would feed this back to customer services.

Agreed that -

Members would be emailed a copy of the Inspector Report linked to the Public Enquiry for the Kloof; a link to the report would also be included in the minutes:

(https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rights-of-way-order-information-decisions-and-maps#plymouth-city)

Members would be provided with a breakdown of green space projects and investments throughout the city;

officers would confirm if a CPZ had been requested to be implemented in the surrounding residential areas near Home Park.