LAF 09/22

Minutes from: Local Access Forum chairs’ and vice chairs’ meeting*
for the East of England region

Held: 29/07/09

Natural England office, Cambridge

Present:

Chair - Abi Townsend, Natural England

Nicky Rowbottom, Regional LAF coordinator

Liddy Lawrence,
Roger Thomas / Hertfordshire LAF
Hertfordshire LAF
Ray Walpole / Broads LAF & Norfolk LAF
Allan Jones,
Peter Medhurst / Norfolk LAF
Norfolk LAF
Erika Wedgwood,
Mary Sanders / Cambridgeshire LAF
Cambridgeshire LAF
Rosalyn Whisker / Bedfordshire & Luton JLAF
John Pearson / Suffolk LAF
Stephen Horner / Peterborough LAF

* N.B. Not all those who attended are chairs or vice chairs. Some LAFs sent other representatives.

Apologies: Essex LAF, Thurrock LAF, Southend –exploring opportunities to become a joint LAF with Essex

Abi Townsend began the meeting with round table introductions.

It was explained that Nicky Rowbottom had been contracted in the East of England region to coordinate two meetings for LAF chairs, a conference for all LAF members in the region and had some additional time for communications. Due to the nature of Nicky’s contract, it would not be possible for her to visit all the LAFs individually. Her contract comes to an end on 31st March 2010.

Hertfordshire LAF update

LAF 09/22

Achievements:

  • Very good breadth of representation (except cyclists). Knowledgeable and committed members, brilliantly supported by Herts County Council officers.
  • Holding the formal meetings (4 each year) in the same place has quadrupled the number of people who come – especially the public.
  • A budget is made available from Herts CC for administration, meetings and projects.
  • Two site visits each year – Jan and June –examine particular hot issues, e.g.: the impacts of roads on access; commons and grazing; HeartwoodForest (Woodland Trust creating the largestnewnativeforestin England).
  • Parish conference (Saturday morning) attended by 50 councillors, good keynote speaker .
  • Persuading landowners to provide permissive access

Current priority concerns:

  • PROW and dangerous roads
  • Equipping children with maps of walking/cycling routes when they’re changing to high school influencing school travel plans
  • Stimulating involvement from ethnic minorities, young people and
  • Easy access route maps for people with disabilities
  • Major developments with access implications include Radlett Rail Freight terminal, OaklandsCollege
  • Optimising access benefits of the 2012 Olympics devpmts (canoeing venue)
  • Herts LAF meetings are held in the evenings which enables people who work in the day toparticipate.They use a system of small working groups who take on particular issues and report back to the main LAF.
  • Herts LAF adopts a more strategic approach to planning matters than some other LAFs. They take an overview and advise the local authority – meeting and discussing access with planners and councillors and looking at training for them - rather than scrutinising every planning application.

BroadsLAF update

LAF 09/22

Achievements

  • Relatively small population so small pool of people, but get wide representation inc. anglers, canoeists, wildfowlers.
  • Close link with BA staff + BA provides efficient secretariat but no direct link with the authority itself. Frustrating. BA LAF Annual report appears as an appendix to Norfolk CC’s Transport Plan.
  • Good programme of site visits keeps LAF members in touch, combine these with the LAF meetings – held during the day. V few members of the public come.
  • New (permissive) footpaths being created on top of new flood banks – good liaison between ROW team and flood protection/alleviation. (More FPs created this way than from any other bit of the ROWIP.)
  • Good co-operation with landowners – much more access gained in general through permissive paths than from any other bit of ROWIP.

What are you concerned about/what is holding you back?

  • Meetings not well publicised. Would like to see more links with local communities
  • Problems securing support from local authorities to build new river crossings to fill missing links which Sustrans identified. Wd open the Broads to many more people but they’re at the junction of 4 local authorities.
  • No definitive maps for Norwich (or Ipswich). Developments esp. along river front put pressure to de facto extinguishaccess rights, because to city councillors the right to use a slipway seemed trivial.

Currentpriorities:

  • Pushing to make permissive paths into PROWs. e.g. when County Council retains paths only as permissive on land they have bought (old railway lines). Local authority property depts don’t want their hands tied – with an eye to future sale.
  • Support for rural villages who want safe walking routes from village to village. Some have worked out paths – but only aspirational at the moment because no budget to implement.
  • Climate change – firmly on Bds LAF agenda. Had discussions with a BA officer and now looking to how they can manage the changes instead of just coping with what comes.

Training

  • Best practice from elsewhere in the country
  • Local Area Agreements – how to get best out of engaging with them.
  • How best engage with the Highways Agency

NorfolkLAF update

LAF 09/22

Achievementsand current priorities:

  • What the Act set out for LAFs to do – a ROWIP finally in place which is acceptable to authority and to LAF and is being worked on.
  • New Norwich distributor road planned. Good co-operation with landscape team. Two new green bridges being put in. This is an improvement to the original plans which had a FP diverted ½ mile each side to use an existing bridge.
  • Review system for all extensions to closing of land for 6 months or more. V involved in stone curlew problem (as is Suffolk). Trying to balance nature conservation with access needs. Current position – LAF accepts proposals to close but if stone curlews don’t come for 2 years they will be reopened.
  • Getting more people to visit the countryside – both tourists and locals. Successful health walks projects – 10 circular walks booklets produced, centred on market towns: ‘Health, Heritage and Biodiversity’. Funding from Natural England (NE) and primary care trusts.
  • Series of led walks along long distance paths, over several summer Sundays. using school buses to transport people out from city/big towns. V popular – 100 or so people on each one.
  • More effective media contact.

Barriers/hindrances?

  • Lack of budget. Draft annual report and promotional leaflet developed but no budget to produce.

LAF 09/22

Cambridgeshire LAF update

Currentpriorities

  • Large-scale developments – now have a working group on planning and development.
  • A14 widening LAF working well to make links between Highways Agency and public access.
  • Wanting to link LAF members with specific parishes/communities to get local improvements
  • Northstowe development – all slowed down now because of the recession, but LAF registered their dissatisfaction with loss of green space.
  • Keeping an eye on ROWIP implementation. CC held back by funding.
  • Permissive paths – 92 in Cambs, need to check with parishes about which is in which scheme.
  • Involved in advice around guided bus work in South Cambs and Northstowe. Getting access to nature reserves along the route. Hard to know now what buses will run and what the fares will be. All slowed down because of recession.
  • Wicken Fen and Great Fen projects – controversial schemes to flood productive farmland to recreate lost wetlands for nature conservation.

Proud of:

  • More people coming to LAF meetings and more agencies wanting to consult the LAF.
  • Runner up in ROWIP awards – best integration with Local Transport Plan

Concerns

  • Heavy reliance on one individual to deal with all the planning issues. Maybe involvement is too detailed.
  • Funding cuts coming. Current LAF budget of £8K. CC budgets swinging to health and education. Officers need to show successes in order to maintain budget levels for access.
  • In the last six months the working groups have been trying to set measurable objectives but haven’t yet completed the task.
  • A bit of a loss of spark now that CROW and ROWIP are in place.

LAF 09/22

Bedfordshire & Luton JLAFupdate

Achievements

  • Beds access improvement plan won an award – most innovative and enterprising ROWIP

Priorities

  • 43,000 new homes over next 20 years – lots of growth in the area. Supposed to incorporate lots of green space and access links (inc non-motorised modes).
  • Motorway widening - M1 and new junctions and work at Luton airport.
  • Still lots of sorting out to be done (after the change to unitary status) about how the three authorities administer and do their work
  • Training needed - hoping to get more young people on board to find out what they want

SuffolkLAF update

Achievements and concerns

  • 17 members on a well-balanced forum
  • Very well supported by SCC and 2 officers- A Woodinand D Falk with admin from J Christie
  • Have a separate address – gives some distance from the county council
  • Got a ROWIP in place – but not a separate budget. They’ve found it works better to leave the money with SCC.
  • Six meetings a year and site visits.
  • Stood up to Highways Agency over the severance of access route and design of the new
    crossing at the Haughley bends on the A14when the dual carriageway was being improved. LAF fought hard to get access from one side to the other, wanting a cost-effective solution. Highways Agency forced a public enquiry which LAF was blamed for. Long and short of it is an unsatisfactory bridge with insufficient barriers. Fears that a horse will jump off it one day.
  • LAFs are too small and insufficiently funded to take on the Highways Agency at a public enquiry. LAF vs 35 experts and 2 barristers an uneven contest. Nevertheless the inspector congratulated LAF on their approach.
  • A11 similar issue – LAF was not caught out. Highways Agency castigated at public meeting by local MP and told to go off, rethink and redraw and come back with a scheme which meet all their 5 access policy statements not just 1½ of them. Highways Agency behave as if cynical about anyone not in a car, and try to paint LAFs as ‘rabid ramblers and bolshie landowners’. If someone did a survey of the number of ROW the Highways Agency have closed it would be shocking.

Priorities

  • Take an overview of S106 agreements.
  • Grazing issues
  • Access restrictions - FPs and stone curlews (shared issue with Norfolk). Recently refused an exclusion order. RSPB intend to force a public enquiry on A11 widening over the issue of disturbance to stone curlews’ nest sites - which is what the Highways Agency want.
  • FP diversion at Bentwaters - redirection to provide a secure area for backup for country’s financial systems.
  • Severance of access routes on A12 and A14. 177 ROWs bisected by these two roads.
  • Suggest to EAF that a national budget is retained to support LAFs on universal issues such as footpath severance. Opportunity for EAF influence?
  • Managed retreat – affects esp. Blyth and Deben. LAF had a day with Environment Agencydirector on coastal access and managed retreat and changed their minds. Now advising SCC officers to spend the access budget on the higher land and use the next few years putting effort into more inland coastal route.

Peterborough LAF update

Achievements

  • LAF has membership of Greater Peterborough Partnership Sustainable Transport Group and Natural Networks Partnership (Peterborough's Green Grid)
  • Links with natural networks
  • Generally respond to planning applications
  • New bridleways – 2.7 km new bridleway link created to other bridleways – opened network up.
  • Negotiated exchange of ROWs. Agreed with landowner to close 2 short cross-field footpaths (hardly-used & with good alternatives) - in return get a bridleway link across land elsewhere. Everyone happy – ramblers, horse riders. Got Natural England’s backing (route goes through a NE nature reserve).
  • Influencing HA-to provide off road cycleway link on A1 Wittering Junction Improvement. Much needed link to between villages and countryside to east and west of A1. Big battle but achieved cycle way link into nearby side road.
  • Great Fen project – Natural Networks team looking at it, along with British Horse Society. Need to look at phasing of connections into the site. Need not only to have viable routes when the work is all done but (different) viable routes as the work is in progress.
  • Getting LAF members to do work- for example a LAF member organising a working group of members from a number of adjoining local parish councils (inc some Lincolnshire parishes) to make new routes.

Priorities

  • Always looking for new ROWs and new access through and links from the urban areas to the countryside – including transport into the countryside from the city esp. at weekends
  • Influencing bus services – especially weekends to get people out of city.

Barriers/hindrances?

  • Unwillingness of council to make developers adhere to the authorities transport policies. Developers all come in just at car level. 200 pages in their plans on cars and roads and one line on cycle/walking routes.
  • Access problems in urban areas far worse than in rural areas.

Training?

  • Examples of good practice e.g. Research into historic mapping as piloted by Hampshire LAF

General concerns – all LAFs

  • Mapping systems - each county seems to be going its own way and doing its own thing. No national consensus/uniformity. Procurement and each authorities’ individual IT policies get in the way of everyone having the same thing. There’s lots of liaison at officer level but isn’t this – or EAF – the sort of forum which should be lobbying for all authorities to use the same systems or at least compatible ones?
  • Need to campaign to get ministers who aren’t connected with the motoring sector to influence the Highways Agency. If LAFs just go in at public enquiry level they’re just putting barristers against barristers. Question – what are Natural England and Defra doing to influence the Highways Agency and keep them to their own policies? “It’s time to make a real ruckus.”

Engagement with England Access Forum (EAF)

EAF has high profile within NE. Influential NE staff attend it.
It’s important to make sure that E region’s concerns get on the agenda and the following topics were given priority:

  • Funding for future training for LAFs beyond the end of the current financial year.
  • Funding for permissive paths – farmers complain that old stewardship scheme (now ‘higher level scheme’) has no support for access. What happens once the scheme is finished? Most farmers won’t keep access open unless they’re paid for it. Shouldn’t EAF be lobbying for sustained support system and extend it? Hilary Benn deciding in next 2 months. 10 year scheme now coming to an end.
  • Strategic development plan – housing – impact. How can LAFs influence at a local level?
  • Relationship with Highways Agency – and a fund to deal with legal proceedings adequately if it gets to public enquiries.
  • Shoreline management plans
  • How does NE interface with other agencies - Highways Agency ? Environment Agency?

How to get things on the EAF agenda:

(Amanda Earnshaw asks that agenda items come to the EAF in this way)

Any other business

Coastal Access

  • NE had hoped the Marine Bill would go through before the parliamentary summer recess. Unfortunate delay now till autumn. This includes proposals for coastal access– right of linear access round England’s coastline with – wherever possible – spreading room to land either side. On foot only, but will include motorised wheelchairs. Where there are existing rights for cycle/horse, they’ll remain.
  • Looking to manage the route to national trail standard.
  • Associated funding programme to develop new higher access opportunities.
  • Last year NE went to each coastal authority with ROW officers and ecologists – identified legally secure ROWs, gaps and causes of gaps. Thus have a mass of data and stats to be published 31/08/09, inc. a map of the region with a coloured line showing current situation.
  • All info at regional level – e.g. E of England has 68% legally secure public access along coast. The rest de facto, permissive or no access. Of that 68% only 2% has higher access rights.
  • Places where there will need to be roll back in response to erosion.
  • If/when the bill becomes law it’ll take 12–18 months before staff in place to get it all implemented. Posts will be funded in LAs. Earliest walking of routes with landowners, stakeholders, LAs - 2013. Two consultation phases to go through yet. Will be 10 year process, happening in a staggered way. Each authority will probably take 3-5 years.
  • Discussion about timescale – could it not be hurried along?

Conference ideas/other LAF event ideas:

  • Coastal access
  • Permissive paths – develop promotion/publication to influence land owners and local authorities.
  • Access maps – what stage is NE at?
    Will show all permissive paths. (Real problem that OS maps don’t show permissive paths)
    How can NE identify PROW when LAs haven’t completed their definitive maps?
  • Health walks successful projects – primary care trusts? local strategic partnerships?
  • Beds talk about their award-winning ROWIP?
  • Should there be a national LAF leaflet?

Detailed discussion about future events ( 2 groups’ discussions recorded in two columns)