Meeting documents

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 an increase in the number of reported ROW issues.
• Item 34 showed a list of the capital project works as of 31 March 2019; all had been completed except Fawley FP12 which had been delayed.

The following key points were raised during discussion:

• A member of the forum reported that when searching for ‘reported paths’ on the CAMs Web, the footpath numbers were not shown.  Ms Taylor agreed to investigate.

ACTION:  Ms Taylor

• A member of the forum stated he had reported a broken gate but his report had been ‘rejected’ because it was not deemed to affect the ROW; he thought the response was inappropriate.  Ms Taylor stated that it could have been rejected because it had already been assessed and agreed to investigate.

ACTION:  Ms Taylor