Meeting documents

Mr J Clark highlighted that the Rights of Way Improvement Plan was a 10 year plan and Section 60 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 required the County Council to assess and review the plan by 1 January 2019.   Mr Clark explained that a large proportion of the plan would remain the same; however, when it was written there was no austerity and it was important to scrutinise how well the County Council had done and what lessons could be learned.  Mr Clark thought the Local Access Forum was the best committee to review the plan.  

Mr A Lambourne, Parish Councils, said the existing plan had been ambitious and many objectives had not been met and suggested that the next plan not be made too ambitious.  It was noted there was no capacity in the ROW team to write the plan; a person would be employed to work on the plan.  Time needed to be factored in for the plan to be presented to the Rights of Way Committee and for Cabinet Member approval.

Mr B Chapple, BCC, updated the Forum on the announcement that Buckinghamshire could become a unitary authority and that the decision was open to comments by all until 25 May 2018.  The Secretary of State would then make a final decision and, if Buckinghamshire became a unitary authority, it would come into effect on 1 April 2020.   Mr Chapple made the following positive points:

• No capital money had been put into ROW for five years, but there was £900,000 for financial year 2018/19. 
• Aylesbury Town had been made a Garden Town and the blue and green infrastructure would be protected. 
• Simply Walks had been a major success and should be reflected in the new plan. 
• Mr Chapple said he wanted the Forum to own the plan and add their comments. 

Mr G Caspersz, mentioned that the Ramblers’ Association had already discussed a proposal that farmers should be paid for making the countryside and farmland more accessible and that the money to be paid should be linked to the number of stiles, footpaths etc in the area.  Mr Chapple added that the plan would cover a period of major development in Buckinghamshire and stressed the need for the plan to be strong enough to protect accessibility.

Mr C Harriss, BCC, said that the way paths were used now was very different due to the use by mountain bikers.  Ms A Heath, British Horse Society (BHS), thought the plan should include how bridleways link up.

It was agreed that there should be a short Local Access Forum meeting on 25 July 2018 followed by a brainstorming session to review the existing Rights of Way Improvement Plan.

Mr J Clark was asked to email the link to the current plan to the forum, but pointed out the link was already on the agenda item briefing. 

Mr B Worrell said he had been involved in the Hertfordshire ROW plan and offered to have a meeting with Mr J Clark to discuss points he felt were of value.

Action:  Mr J Clark/Mr Worrell