Borough of Bedford Local Access Forum
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Borough of Bedford Local Access Forum Minutes of meeting held on 2nd April 2012 at Committee Room 2, Borough Hall commencing at 6.30pm Members Observers Bob Wallace - Chairman Lizzie Barnicoat – Secretary James Russell – Vice Chairman Apologies David Binns Phill Fox – Bedford Borough Council Nigel Jacobs Simon Fisher – Bedford Borough Council Barry Ingram Graham Watson Steve Bumstead David Mitchell Sarah Hollands Andy Gerrard Mark Egar 1. Welcome by Chairman Bob Wallace welcomed everyone to the meeting, thanking everyone for attending. 2. Public Questions There were no public questions received, as no members of the public present. 3. Correspondence Received The Secretary detailed the correspondence received between meetings; which included information regarding Paths 4 Communities, a letter to LAF Chairs from Richard Benyon MP and information regarding the Local Sustainable Transport Fund. 4. Apologies See above. Page 1 5. Minutes of previous meeting held on 17th January and 5th March 2012 to be agreed These had been circulated to all members prior to the meeting; it was unanimously agreed by those present to be signed as a true and accurate record by the Chairman. 6. Matters arising from previous meeting 6.1 Electronic circulation of staffing structure to Members – This had not been received to date. 6.2 Distributing of Annual Report to stakeholder list - PF not present to update, but the Forum felt it very important that this years report must go out and were concerned regarding that the above two are outstanding item where there has been feedback on whether these actions have been undertaken or not, which it is felt is discourteous. 6.3 Central Bedfordshire Council RoW Department comparison – the Forum discussed the difference between the two local authorities and it was suggested that BW as Chair to write/contact Bedford Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council to request the information, outlining items such as overall staffing levels, rights of way network, budget for department and maybe ask further afield i.e. Herts, Bucks, Northants maybe through the use of the Huddle network. Those present felt that overall allocations of monies as a comparison tool it was felt would be helpful to understand resource allocation better in local authorities. Action Request for information to made to local authority and through Huddle network – Chairman 6.4 Local Nature Partnership bid update – JR updated that there is nothing in place in Bedfordshire yet, there have been funds received for capacity to see if it can be developed and another round of funding is taking place shortly. The Central Bedfordshire Council LAF were contacted to supply information to the previous funding application and JR has raised that this LAF should also be involved as if this comes to move forward then endorsement may be asked for and the LAF representation on the LNP is important. 6.5 Huddle update – The Huddle training session was outlined and the format of the system was discussed and it was agreed that BW to pursue having additional members registered for the system. Action Additional members to be pursued on Huddle network – Chairman 6.6 Feedback from National Conference – BW had circulated the report at a previous meeting, and the minutes will be circulated once they are received. The Path 4 Communities project was detailed and it is intended for upgrading and reducing fragmentation with full details expected in April, and that landowner’s co-operation is Page 2 needed for this scheme. There were also discussions around the monitoring of ROWIP plans and reporting through an annual review to assess progress and LAF’s to encourage this from the local authority. The BoBLAF and monitoring of Bedford Borough Council’s document plans can become a regular item for discussion if it was agreed in regards to accountability. The feedback from the Rights of Way department of updates and progress between meetings would be useful and something the Forum requests from Officers on any aspect of the ROWIP through understanding the work programme. The Forum felt that recent reporting of improvements would allow spreading of the work the department do, to raise awareness of the improvements to the various stakeholders. It was discussed how best to collate an annual work plan, a rolling work plan and progress against these updates to be received at each meeting. Action Future feedback to the Forum to be fed back to Officers – Chairman 6.7 Traffic Regulation Order at Cross End, Thurleigh – The Forum had received the supporting information from the Officer regarding this matter and felt, after much discussion on the specific order, though there is sympathy with the situation it is felt not appropriate to raise such an Order due to one specific persons thoughts (in this case the owner). In view of other local schemes if there was a blanket order then it could be understood, none of the items listed for this specific matter are legal reasons, so a structured approach at first is needed. It was suggested that LAF host a round table discussion possibly in the future, with different user interests and the Highways authority to discuss these in general at a future meeting. Action Feedback to be given from the Forum to Officers – Secretary Other items to be covered during the meeting. 7. Volunteering BW had produced a supporting document for this item which BW gave an overview of, each Parish Council it was noted had been asked to nominate a rights of way points of contact recently. The Forum supports the comments within the document and felt presentation of these comments to Officers for feedback and a further response from them to understand what information in particular needs to be recorded. The public access to the recent survey work undertaken would be particularly useful information and these supporting reports, then it can be looked at in stages to ascertain what type of survey work needs doing and how best to engage with individuals. There was knowledge of a former Bedfordshire County Council document which gave guidelines on what is needed, so members felt that there is a former document in existence with this information on. It was agreed that maybe the use of a sub-group working on this topic with the Forum and Officer support was felt to be a good way forward , as taking the volunteer aspect forwards is also important to members and must be pursued, with the Forum noting they wish to be proactive on this. Action Feedback to be given from the Forum to Officers – Chairman Page 3 8. The formation of the Forum’s response to the ROWIP A draft document in response to the Plan had been circulated to all Forum members prior to the meeting with amendments welcome, after discussion items to be highlighted more included: reporting back to the public and LAF about progress, and having ‘smart’ targets to ensure they are measurable i.e. instead of 100km style free, state X per year. In addition during further discussion items such as: in section 5 it does not state who is responsible for vegetation, needs to include reference of safety of user assessment in order to understand dangers, Countryside Code reference, responsible behaviour of users, and best value performance detail. It was agreed that the final draft to be done by the Secretary and re-circulated in time for submission of comments. Action Circulation of updated response to all members and submission prior to deadline– Secretary 9. Annual Report of Forum The Secretary reported that this is in progress. Action Future Agenda Item – Secretary 10. Election of Chair and Vice Chair This item was raised and nominations for the roles were invited, it was agreed to be item of business for next meeting. Action Future Agenda Item – Secretary 11. Work Programme 2012-13 and schedule of meetings It was noted that originally this meeting had been scheduled to include updates regarding the Greenwheel, Active Travel Plan, Route 51 through the Borough, and Bedford River Park. Updates on these items would still be beneficial to members as well as understanding the use of Section 106 monies for enhancing access, such as off Norse road and at Wixams. It would be useful to receive progress on the new planning system that has undergone changes and how to ensure strategic monies for access and right of way are secured. Action Future Agenda Item – Secretary 12. Any Other Notified Business Page 4 None received Meeting closed at 9.05pm Signed: ……………………………. Date: …………… Page 5 .