Meeting documents

Mr C Hurworth gave an update and showed further updated pictures, the main points were raised as follows:

·         Early in 2016, the Loddon Vale Trail Riders' Fellowship was approached by Hampshire County Council with the view of repairing Langrish Boat 23 Pidham Lane, near Petersfield. Now, there were grants available for the landowners to repair the rights of way which went across their land, although the money had not been taken up. Were this to remain the case the funding would go back to central government. 

·         Following discussion the national Trail Riders' Fellowship (TRF) agreed to the funding being provided to the Loddon Vale group.  Timeline details were as follows:

·         Initial site visit took place in July 2016.

·         An application was submitted October 2016.

·         The grant was approved on 10 November 2016.

·         The contract was received on 10 December 2016. 

·         Following the Hampshire County Council and TRF contract had been approved, the completion deadline for the works was April 2017. 

·         A site visit by both parties took place on 21t January 2017, with the work party date being held the following day. 

·         The materials were sourced by the TRF.

·         The materials were delivered on Friday 03 March; work took place on the 04 March.

·         16 people attended the repair, two of which provided machinery.

·         A 3-tonne digger was also hired. 

·         Both members of the public who provided machinery had full public liability insurance and were trained operators to use the equipment.

·         The mud holes were dug out to provide a suitable depth for hard core, then scalping’s were put on top, compacted by a plate.  A slight camber was made and a small drainage ditch dug on the side. 

·         Whilst this work took place, overhanging branches were being cut. All works were completed by 4.00pm that day. 

·         The materials cost £1,075.20; machinery to hire the digger was £654; and miscellaneous costs were £163.88, which brought a total of £1,893.08. 

·         The grant from Hampshire County Council was £1,145.08.

·         The TRF donated £748.08 from their own funds.

·         Nationally, the TRF were now attempting to work with local authorities to maintain, or help maintain, the rights of way. This approach had worked well in Devon, where repairs of a pack horse bridge had been successful and Northumberland.

Update from Mr J Clark:

·         The route in question was a byway, as illustrated in Appendix 1. The pictures in Appendix 2 illustrated what had been happening. 

·         The route was upgraded from bridleway to byway open to all traffic by a Definitive Map Modification Order in 2012. 

·         Winter 2016 had seen a growth of 4x4 vehicles, which had caused the rutting as illustrated in Appendix 2. 

·         The main land owner was the National Trust, in part, and the Wildlife Trust had vehicular access to access the rifle range along the byway. 

·         The land had ecological and historic environmental importance as outlined in paragraph 3 and 4.

·         570 metres of the route passed through Pulpit Wood which was a Local Wildlife Site and 600 metres abutted a Special Area of Conservation. 

·         230 metres sat next to a local wildlife site.

·         The archaeology team stated that there were unknown buried archaeology deposits that could be being damaged; however there was no evidence of this. . They had suggested that the route should be closed to vehicles. 

·         The Forum were left with various options and various permutation;

o   Full closure

o   Seasonal closure

o   Seasonal closure for  4x4s only

o    Seasonal closure for motorcycles only

o   Open for all  

• Kent County Council were using a permit system which seemed to have alleviated similar issues.  It was suggested Mr B Worrell investigate further with Kent County Council.

ACTION: Mr B Worrell

• The initial plan was to continue to provide access for walkers, with the potential option for lockable bollards, however consultation would be required.
• Vote on full closure or seasonal closure:

o   Full closure for 4x4’s - unanimous, 1 abstention

o   Seasonal closure for motorcycles - unanimous agreement