Agenda item

James Spratley, Strategic Access Officer, Buckinghamshire Council.

James Sprately (Strategic Access Officer) gave an overview of the Slow Ways initiative, which aimed to connect populated places across Great Britain via a network of walking routes. The slides from his presentation would be appended to the minutes of the meeting. The following key points were raised in the overview:

Slow ways were not just a single right of way, but a combination of several rights of way to create links between populated spaces.

The project was volunteer lead, with slow ways ‘swarms’ identifying and registering slow ways on the website. This process included a survey and verification system to help potential future users of a Slow Way identify which particular route between places would work best for their needs.

The project aimed to fill a gap by bringing a comprehensive list of rights of way, similar to a traditional Ordnance Survey maps into the digital space. James identified that younger walkers were used to using Google maps to navigate, but that this did not have quite the depth that Slow Ways could offer.

A meeting had been held with Dan Raven-Ellison, the founder of the Slow Ways project, and it had been made clear that there was an aim to move away from a purely digital presence. This could take the shape of signage, waypoint markers and physical maps for some Slow Ways routes in the future.

At the time of the LAF meeting, thirteen places in Buckinghamshire were navigable via one of fifty-nine Slow Ways. Seventy-five routes could be chosen by potential ramblers, as some Slow Ways had more than one route option, and seventeen of those routes had been verified (having had three or more positive reviews).

It was hoped that 100% verification could be achieved for Slow Ways in Buckinghamshire with the help of the LAF to promote the project through volunteer networks and supporting events. Any feedback and ideas were warmly received and could be passed on to James Spratley following the meeting.

Following questions, the following was clarified for the LAF:

As Slow Ways heavily used the rights of way network, it was possible that some routes would have stiles and steps, which could cause accessibility issues for some users. It remained an aim of the Rights of Way Improvement Plan to remove any stiles from the rights of way network. James suggested that for those unable to navigate a route using stiles or steps, a filter on the Slow Ways map to remove such routes might be a useful feature which he would seek to raise. It would also be within the power of the council to require a step and stile free route for any physically marked Slow Way, should one be identified in the future.

Slow Ways were less intended for circular, recreational walks, and were meant as a way to replace driving between two places. It was hoped that the number of start/finish nodes across Buckinghamshire would increase to ensure that as many people as possible had access to a slow Ways network within reasonable distance of their home.

Any physical signage along a Slow Way would need to include the distance and time to reach different destinations from that point.

Slow Ways operates via a website rather than an app.

A point was raised regarding the possibility of putting all the access routes across Buckinghamshire into a single place, as there was a lack of integrated thinking with various routes not appearing in tandem with others.

Members thanked James for his overview.