Meeting documents

Updates to be provided by- Helen Francis, Definitive Map Team; Jonathan Clark, Strargic Access Officer; and Joanne Taylor, Operations Team Leader.

Ms H Francis, Definitive Map and Land Charges Team Lead, attended the meeting to provide an update on the Rights of Way Group. During discussion key points were highlighted as follows: 

Definitive Map Team report

• Item A; CAMSWEB was moving ahead.

• Item B; New Statement of Priorities.  A member of the group commented that in paragraph 1, it mentioned "reduced staff resources".  It was clarified that the team leader was on maternity leave and that one member of staff was currently on long term sick which had caused the reduction in staff.

• It was noted that A new Statement of Priorities (Appendix A) should read Appendix 1.

• Item C; Matters Previously Determined by Committee.  Edgcott; the public enquiry had been held and it was hoped that the application would be successful.

• Item D; Definitive Map Applications to be investigated and reported to Committee.  Two further definitive map applications had been received for Stokenchurch and High Wycombe, making 21 outstanding applications for claimed routes.

• It was asked if the date of 2020 would slip.  Ms Francis advised that this was possible but that any new applications received had been prioritised.

• Item E; Public Path Orders.  The Public Path Orders were mostly the same although it was noted that Number 5, Weston Turville, was currently in consultation.

• Public Path Orders; Item 7; The Chairman noted that the application to extinguish the footpath had gone ahead by Wycombe District Council, despite the previous feedback from the Local Access Forum.

• Item F; Village Green Applications.  It was noted that one more application had been received.

Strategic Access Update – Mr J Clark, Strategic Access Officer, asked for any questions on his update.  The following points were raised:

• Appendix 2, Buckinghamshire Public Rights of Way – Planning and Development advice.  A member of the group commented that there was no mention of carriage drivers and others users in paragraph one.  It was agreed that the sentence should include "all legal users’ rights of way".

ACTION: Ms H Francis

• Item 25 – North Bucks RIPPLE group.  It was queried why all the gates were not now pedestrian gates.  Mr Clark clarified that the County Council was beholden to landowners who were within their rights to keep the stile. Some landowners were nervous about pedestrian gates without a refuge due to the possibility of stock escaping. 

Rights of Way Operations Update

• Ms J Taylor, Rights of Way Team Leader, provided an update on the current staff structure of 6 FTE.

• Internal candidate had been appointed as Rights of Way officer.

• Ms A Heath noted that repairs to bridleways were being left until they posed a danger, in particular one of the bridleways in Marlow and Wexham 26. Wexham 26 had been raised as an issue and had now resulted in an accident where a horse had been badly injured.  Ms Heath advised that the rider was proposing to pursue legal proceedings against the County Council.  Ms Taylor explained that there was a limited budget for these types of works and that a bid for money for capital improvement works had been submitted and that Wexham 26 was included in the bid.  Ms Taylor clarified that the accident did not occur on the bridleway, but on land owned by the County Council.  The claim was being dealt with by the insurance team.  Ms Taylor advised that the problem in Marlow had been identified; the surface had eroded and this was on the list for repair. It was noted this could be carried out in a couple of years if it became a capital project.

• Concern was expressed over the high number of outstanding issues detailed in Appendix 3 – Rights of Way Summary of Maintenance Carried Out.  Ms Taylor advised that the highest number recorded was 4,000, and the lowest was 800.  It was agreed that the number was rising. 

·         The low number of paths rated easy to use was commented on as being disappointing.  Ms Taylor explained there had been difficulties issuing the surveys to volunteers, but it was important that the surveys were carried out as it benchmarked the quality and condition of the rights of way work.