JEGS, Chairman – 24/3/2014

Local Access Forum Annual Review Form – April 2013 to March 2014.

Name of LAF:Cornwall Countryside Access Forum (CCAF).

Name of LAF Chair: James Scobie

Name of LAF Secretary: Lynne Beardsmore

Number of LAF members: 20

Number of LAF vacancies: Nil

1 - Involvement and Representation

What interests does your current membership cover?

(a) General recreational use, e.g. walking, riding, cycling, motor and carriage driving and limited mobility access.

(b) Land management, e.g. estate management, farming, forestry, common land management and National Trust.

(c) Land ownership, e.g. landowners, land occupiers and tenants’ interests.

(d) Wildlife conservation.

(e) Cultural heritage and landscape conservation.

(f) Tourism.

(g) Sport and active recreational pursuits.

What skills, sectors, interest groups, experience are missing?

Severe disabilities

Describe any difficulties you had recruiting members from particular sectors:

Landowner/land manager representatives can be more difficult to find.

2 - Operation of LAF

What procedures (e.g. expense claims, new applications, monitoring of Huddle etc) do you follow that help you work effectively? Are these effective?

Expenses claims are efficiently dealt with centrally by Cornwall Council specific staff. Cornwall Council and CCAF jointly interview prospective new members. Huddle is not widely used by members of CCAF.

How do you ensure that your members are able to work as a team?

Applicants who appear to be good ‘team players’ are generally favoured when new members are being selected . The forum at present has 3 permanent working groups (each with it’s own chairman) and at present there is one task and finish group (with it’s own chairman). The membership of these groups is balanced to provide broad knowledge and experience.

In what ways do you reach consensus?

After discussion by voting unless there is a complete and obvious consensus.

How do you ensure proper conduct and/or resolve any conflicts?

There is generally no conflict and all members of the forum share common interests in the various types of access to some degree.

Give up to 3 examples of where you have encountered operational difficulties (e.g. lack of resources); explain what mechanisms could be put in place to alleviate such issues:

1 -The forum now receives much less help from Cornwall Council Democratic Services Department than it did before the recent cut back in Council resources. Although the system that operated up to about a year ago worked well, now full consideration should be given to the forum employing a part time secretary recruited from outside the council.

2 –It is very disappointing that the essential work concerning the Definitive Map is not being completed by Cornwall Councilas promised by the Council and in line with the Council’s statutory duty.

3 - Partnership and Progress

Do you work well with the access authority? If not, why not?

We work well with the elected representatives. We also work wellwith the access management department of the council staff, despite their diminishing resources. However it would be useful if more information from the Council could be made available in advance of being discussed at CCAF meetings. The Council Democratic Services department often fails to understand that CCAF is, and must be, a separate body from their Council if they are to do a worthwhile job.

Do you work well with your planning authorities? If not, why not?

We work well but we should have longer for consultation.

Have you established a clear role for the LAF in the local area?

This is improving and the CCAF is increasingly engaging with more bodies in the local area. CCAF must have more help from Cornwall Council by way of publicity in order to improve public knowledge of what CCAF does and can do.

Main or notable achievements?

In the last year the main achievements have been –

1. Finding out more clearlyexactly what is the new organisation and staffing of Cornwall Council’s access departments and their systems and in particular the New Service Standards and the Public Rights Of Way Enforcement Policy.

2. Actively trying to help Cornwall Council’s elected representatives and officers, using the experience of the members of the forum, to explore ways of finding funds from new sources for use in access projects.

3. Encouraging and advising regarding two Paths 4 Communities schemes (Helston and Sancreed) and one bridle path scheme (Sheviock) and two off road cycling trail systems at Cardinham and Lanhydrock.

4 - Profile and Direction

Has anything changed over the last year?

Less secretarial help for CCAF from Cornwall Council. In this year one of the Full CCAF meetings was informal instead of formal. Next year there will be two full formal meetings changed to informal, leaving four full meetings as formal ones.

The Council is more short of incomefor use on access despite the fact that quality countryside (including seaside) access is the main producer of visitor income and of the health and wellbeing of both visitors and residents.

At the same time this past year has seen some of the most destructive storms and high rainfall in living memory with resulting increased severe damage to access in the county.

What changes / barriers can you see ahead?

It is likely that the Council will in the next few years become even more short of normal income for use on accesswork.

This situation will hopefully be improved by E C grants and other initiatives.

We may have to lobby hard to retain our essential and excellent regional LAF co-ordinator.

What are your priorities for the year ahead (list up to 3)?

1 –Continue to give independent advice to Cornwall Council and the other Section 94 bodies in response to requests for this.

2 -Engage with the Cornwall EnterprisePartnership, the local nature partnership (CIoSEP)and the health and wellbeing board in the County (HWBB).

3 -Improve the secretariat support for CCAF

What support or training do you need to deliver your priorities?

Improved secretariat support.

5 - Section 94 Bodies
Give up to 3 examples of advice given by your LAF to section 94 bodies:

1 - Cornwall Council – potential new or increased sources of income (including from the EC and the private sector) and volunteer labour for use on countryside access.

2 - The Forestry Commission – review of policy for restricting public access.

3 - Natural England and their applicants regarding 2 Paths 4 Communities schemes.

6 - Open Access Work

How many Restriction Cases have you been consulted on? c6

How many cases have you responded to? c2

Detail any informal involvement with Open Access Restriction cases:Nil

7 - Number of consultations, meetings and initiatives your LAF has been involved with over the year. Please add numbers into the boxes below and only count specific consultations once even if advice has been given on them a number of times. If a consultation covers more than one subject area, please count them separately as appropriate.

Public meetings (e.g. LAF meetings) / 5 / Working groups / 4
Training days / 1 / Definitive map modification orders / 1
Highway orders / Green Infrastructure strategies
Gating orders / Local transport plans and traffic management schemes
Cycle projects / 2 / Disabled access
Dog exclusion/on leads/fouling orders / Housing development schemes
Planning applications (Davidstow wind farm) / 1 / PROW network and projects
ROWIP planning and objectives / Local development frameworks and planning strategies / 4
Local Nature Partnerships / 1 / Recording of paths and promoting use
Expiring permissive agreements under Higher Level Stewardship schemes - assessing the value and future of and liaison with landowners to improve access / 1 / Flood defence works - Environment Agency consultations and planning applications regarding
Slipways and landing stages - public access to / Improvement of access through the Paths for Communities (P4C) scheme / 2
Disposal and development of land owned by the Council / Parish Council or local improvement grant schemes
Shoreline management plans / Rail freight interchange strategic development
Network rail and rail crossing closures / Access and nature conservation
Horse routes and equestrian provision / 4 / Multi user routes (Sheviock) / 1
National Parks / Coastal access
Motorised vehicle access / 1 / Access to MOD land / 2
New town & village green registration government consultation / 1 / Natural England consultations
Defra consultations / Commons grazing proposals(Bodmin moor) / 1
Highways Agency consultations / Department for Transport consultations
Other (please specify): Meeting with the Cornwall Councilportfolio holder to advise on the CCAF’s views on sensitive commercialisation and ways of the CC being more efficient while aiming to increase access. One informal full CCAF meeting. Consideration of Cornwall Rural Highways Best Practice Consultation. Meeting with Cornwall Council regarding Cornwall Council relationship with CCAF.Advice to Cornwall Council re AGLVs. Consideration of the new Deregulation Bill. Consideration of the vision for the S W Coast path over the next 5 years. Forestry Commission consultation.

8 - Final comments from Appointing Authority:

Cornwall Council is responsible for providing the Secretariat for the Cornwall Countryside Access Forum and intends to continue to perform that function through the Council’s Democratic Services team. Unfortunately, recent and future reductions in funding mean that the Council has had to examine every area of its activities to ensure that the service is as efficient as can be and this may be having an impact on the way in which the Council is engaging with the Forum. The number of formal meetings of the Forum has been reduced from six to four and we are continuing to work with the Chair to ensure that the Forum is providing relevant strategic advice to the Council and other section 94 bodies in relation to countryside access. In particular we are working with the Forum to develop a long term work programme around issues on which the Council requires advice and will be encouraging other section 94 bodies to participate in the development of that work programme.

9 - Final comments from LAF Chair:

The membership of CCAF has an excellent wide range and variation of ages and experience.

The awareness of CCAF, and it's advice that is available, has greatly increased despite the present national and local financial difficulties.

CCAF was represented at all the national and regional LAF Conferences and at the pre-formation meetings for the new Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Environment Partnership.

Because of the Forestry Commission’s methods of restriction of access we met their Cornwall Area Forester to discuss various policy issues.