Meeting documents

Apologies were received from Mr G Thomas and Ms A Heath.  The Chairman thanked Mr D Briggs for chairing the last meeting at short notice.

To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2019.

There were no matters arising.

RESOLVED:  The minutes of the meeting held on 20 March 2019 were AGREED as an accurate record and were signed by the Chairman.

To be presented by Mrs S Bayne, Blackwood Bayne Ltd.

Ms S Bayne, Director, Blackwood Bayne Ltd, provided a presentation, appended to the minutes, and gave the following update:

• An extraordinary meeting was held on 21 May 2019 to discuss the emerging findings from the stakeholder and public engagement activities; the meeting was useful but Ms Bayne felt that, due to low attendance, it would be beneficial to re-examine a couple of areas with the Local Access Forum (LAF). 
• The Rights of Way Improvement Plan (ROWIP) would contain an ‘assessment’ which included an understanding of public need, review the definitive map, the condition of the network and relevant plans and strategies.  It would also include information on economic needs, health and wellbeing and facilities for visitors.

• The assessment would also consider opportunities for recreation and exercise and accessibility of rights of way (ROW) to blind and partially sighted people and people with mobility problems.
• The LAF had received the results of the survey carried out with parish and town councils and the stakeholder and public engagement activities.

Topic 2 – Addressing Maintenance Challenges

• Maintaining and investing in the network was the highest priority; overgrown paths were the highest scoring priority for the public and parish councils.
• Lack of way marking, stiles, finger posts and obstructions were in the top five priorities.
• 38% of the public were satisfied with the ROW service for reported issues; communication was the main suggestion for improvement.
• The CAMs system would continue to be improved; combined with monitoring public satisfaction for the new system.
• A significant number of people recognised that issues would not be fixed immediately due to lack of resources.

Ms Bayne asked the LAF for suggestions on how to improve the scores for addressing maintenance challenges and for input on what could be included in the ROWIP. 

• It was noted that the main comments were on the condition of the ROWs.
• There was low satisfaction with the responses to reported problems.  The Chairman queried if the reason for the dissatisfaction was the response time or that the issues were not resolved.  Ms Bayne clarified that both the response time and the communication issues had received the highest percentage of comments. 
• Some of the problems were dependent on the landowner e.g. footpath clearance and it often came down to enforcement proceedings which was time consuming for staff.  It was queried if more focus should be on enforcement action.
• The pie chart showed that 42% of the public were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the response to the reporting of ROW issues.  A member of the forum asked how it could be determined if people had too high an expectation of the condition of the ROW.  Ms Bayne stated that it would not be possible; a number of people were dissatisfied but understood the reasons.

• A member of the forum acknowledged that it was difficult to manage people’s expectations; it was an impossible mission as people only reported the bad news.  The Chairman stated that, on the whole, Buckinghamshire had an extensive ROW network with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To be presented by, Mrs H Francis, Definitive Map Team; Mr J Clark, Strategic Access Officer; and Ms J Taylor, Operations Team Leader.

Definitive Map Team

Ms H Francis, Definitive Map and Land Charges Team Leader, reported the following:

Section A – Matters previously determined by the Committee; there were no further updates to the report. 

Section B – Definitive map applications to be investigated and reported to the Committee; there were five applications under investigation.

Section C – Public Path Orders; 13 applications had been dealt with and were awaiting works to be completed.

Four applications had been closed. 

Section D – Village Green Applications; Number two; High Wycombe – Land off Warren Wood Drive was under discussion with the applicant.

Mr A Clark from the Chiltern Society advised that the society was not in receipt of copies of the path orders.  Ms Francis stated she would follow up.

ACTION:  Ms Francis

Section E – Strategic Access Update

Mr J Clark, Strategic Access Officer, provided the following update regarding the HS2 works:

• Works were progressing and the ROW closures were minimal; the majority of closures would be for up to two years apart from the Denham Bridleway 3 which would be closed for seven years during the construction of the Denham tunnel portal. 
• Significant work was being carried out at Great Missenden to construct the Chilterns tunnel portal access road.
• Discussions were being undertaken to keep the options open to connect Waddesdon and Claydon House with a cycle route running alongside HS2.
• Ms S Wright, Ridgeway National Trail Officer, who had provided a presentation at the last meeting, had received funding from the HS2 Additional Mitigation Fund for the first phase of a new Ridgeway Riding Route.  The project would commence this year and end in July 2022.  Ms Wright would provide an update at a future meeting. 
• The second formal consultation for Heathrow’s third runway was open.

The following key points were raised during discussion:

• A Member of the Forum asked if there was an alternative route for the Denham Bridleway.  Mr Clark stated that there was but it was an extremely long way round and went via Hertfordshire to the east and Buckinghamshire to the West.  The Ramblers’ Association had asked for an alternative route but currently there was no other option.  A new motorway service station was planned in the area and the developers would allow permissive access to the site; Mr Clark stated he would bear this in mind when considering the planning application in detail.
• Mr Clark confirmed that Bacombe Lane would remain open as part of HS2.
• Mr Clark agreed to email Appendix 2 to Mr B Worrell.

ACTION:  Mr Clark

Section F – Rights of Way Operations Update

Ms J Taylor, Team Leader, ROW, reported the following:

• The current structure was 6.4 full time equivalent (FTE) staff. 

A 0.4 FTE post was being covered by Mr P Fox, two days a week; he was assisting with bridge and surface capital works projects.

• Extra contractor crews had been taken on to carry out the summer clearance.  The new online reporting system had resulted in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Mr J Clark, Strategic Access Officer, provided the following update:

• The action carried forward to re-circulate the ‘promoted routes spreadsheet’ from the meeting held on 7 November 2018 was a misunderstanding.
• The second sentence of item two of the report should have read ‘Chiltern District Council’ not ‘Chesham District Council’.
• The draft Colne Valley Infrastructure Strategy was out for consultation and covered a large part of Buckinghamshire but did not contain any information on ROWs or a link to the ROW Strategy.  Mr Clark stated he would include this point in his response to the consultation.

ACTION: Mr Clark

There was no other business.

06 November 2019- 10am, Mezz 1

04 March 2020- 10am, Mezz 1

15 July 2020- 10am, Mezz 1

04 November 2020- 10am, Mezz 1

6 November 2019

4 March 2020

15 July 2020

4 November 2020

All at 10.00 am in Mezzanine Room 1, County Hall.