To:The Members of the Exmoor Local Access Forum
A meeting of the Exmoor Local Access Forum will be held in Porlock Village Hall, Porlock, on Wednesday, 31 May 2006 at 6 pm.
The meeting will be open to the press and public in accordance with the provisions of reg. 7 of The Local Access Forums (England) Regulations 2002 (under s 94 and 95 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000).
#The normal Public Question Time procedures will not apply at this meeting, given that a large part of it is a public forum for local communities in the Porlock area to express views on access, rights of way and general recreation – see Item 6 below.
Prior to the meeting, there will be an informal site visit to Porlock Marsh to discuss/understand the issues surrounding access to the coast. If any members of the public would like to attend, they should please contact the Forum’s Secretary on the above email address or telephone number
Martin Palmer
Secretary, Exmoor Local Access Forum
A G E N D A
1. Welcome
To welcome members of the public from Porlock and the surrounding areas.
Forum members and officers from the National Park Authority will briefly introduce themselves and their backgrounds and interests.
2. Appointment of Vice-Chairman (deferred from the last meeting)
3. Apologies for Absence
4. Declarations of Interest
Members are asked to declare any direct or indirect personal interests (including financial) in relation to items on the agenda for this meeting and shall disclose the nature of those interests to the meeting.
(NB. The regulations do not prohibit any member having such an interest from remaining in the meeting and participating in the discussion).
5. Minutes
(1)
To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Forum held on 1 March 2006 (Item
5 PDF, 138KB).
(2) To consider any Matters Arising from those Minutes.
6. Meet the Community
An invitation for members of the public (including
those who represent specific groups) from Porlock and the surrounding areas to air your views on how
the new right to open access land is working, how the local rights of way network is perceived and what
improvements are considered to be necessary and also how access to other recreational pursuits may be
improved.
7. Access to the Coast
(1)
Forum members are invited to provide feedback on their site visit to the coast at Porlock Marsh, held
prior to this meeting.
(2) Natural England Partners Access to the English Coast Project – Study Area Stakeholder Workshop, North Devon, Exmoor and West Somerset Coast: To consider Notes from Jeremy Holtom (Item 7.2 PDF, 95KB)
(3) Proposed changes to the route of the South West Coast Path National Trail on Exmoor: To consider a report by Mark Owen, Path Development Officer, South West Coast Path Team (Item 7.3 PDF,1MB) (NB. Mark Owen will be present at the meeting).
8. Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP)
(1) Exmoor National Park RoWIP – Action Plan for 2006/07: The Recreation and Access Officers to report on the attached Action Plan (Item 8.1 PDF,596KB).
(2) Draft Somerset RoWIP: James Maben, Access Officer will outline the general policies in the Plan as they relate to the National Park – a copy of the draft plan is attached for Forum members only. Should anyone else require a copy, they should please contact Peter Hobley, Rights of Way Project Officer with Somerset County Council, either by telephone 01823 358185 or email pahobley@somerset.gov.uk
9. Access Update from the National Park Authority
Authority officers to report on CRoW Act access (including legislative changes affecting Roads Used as Public Paths and the effects of the Natural Environment and the Rural Communities Act relating to public rights of way) and RoWIP progress (including a brief report on a recent application to close CRoW access land for game shooting).
10. Access to Water
Further to Minute 36 of the meeting held on 7 September 2005 (Item 10 PDF, 125KB) and Minute 9 of the last meeting, the Forum is asked to decide its position on the British Canoe Union’s campaign for greater access to waterways for canoes and other smaller craft and, as appropriate, to provide any advice to the National Park Authority. Paul Hawkins, the National Park Authority’s Recreation Manager, will provide details on the situation in Scotland and, in the meantime, a copy of the Scottish Canoe Access Code is attached (Item 10.1 PDF, 1.7MB). Also, a couple of River Taw riparian owners have been invited to address the meeting.
11. Jeremy Holtom requests the meeting consider two horse related items:-
• Dangerous road surfaces – there are two lethal roads in the Devon area of the National Park where accidents have happened at Trentishoe (road between Dean and Tattiscombe) and at Lynton (road at Sparhanger) both are close to riding schools and frequently used by horse riders.
• Section 15 land (higher rights land) – the British Horse Society is concerned about mapping and signing of this land, which ties in with the effort to have bridleways dedicated across these areas.
12. Diversion Orders
To receive an update from Alison Kent, Senior Ranger for the National Park Authority.
13. South West Local Access Forums
The Regional Co-ordinator for the South West Local Access Forums, Hilary Winter, proposes another event in the autumn for LAF members in the region. She has asked for Forums’ to provide a response on what the event should comprise:-
• What you would like to see included?
• Are there any particular speakers you would like to invite?
• Are there any topical issues you would like to discuss more widely?
• What should be the format – discussion time, small groups?
• Suggestions for venue and to identify dates which are not convenient? It is likely that the event will take place in late October/early November 2006.
14. Improving Information about Local Access Forums
David Gear from the Countryside
Agency is canvassing LAF’s views on the basic and standardised information which they propose to add
about each LAF to the Countryside Agency’s website. It is proposed that each LAF will have one
page, with a format as follows:-
1. Name of LAF……………….
2. Appointing Authority……………
3. Total membership (as at……………)……….
4. Average no. of meetings annually………….
5. Location(s) of meetings………………
6. Time(s) and dates of meetings………….
7. Website addresses………………..
8. Secretary’s email address…………..
9. Secretary’s phone no…………….
10. Matters of key interest (eg. Projects involved with)…………………..
11. Miscellaneous notes……………………
The Countryside Agency requires the information by 9 June 2006. As Secretary, I can easily complete 1 to 9, but Forum members’ views are sought on 10 and 11 and to suggest any amendments or additions to the above list.
15. Date of the Next Meeting(s) and Agenda Items
It is suggested that the next meeting be held towards the end of July 2006 when, if agreed, the Forum can receive feedback from a member(s) attending site visits in respect of the proposed changes to the route of the South West Coast Path National Trail on Exmoor (see item 7.3 above). That meeting would also consider the Forum’s Annual Report and it would present the opportunity for another site visit before the meeting.
16. Any Other Business of Urgency
For further information about the Exmoor Local Access Forum and its work, please contact the Secretary, Martin Palmer, at the postal address, telephone numbers or email address given at the top of this agenda.