Suffolk Local Access Forum Title: Agenda Meeting Date: 14 July 2011 Author/Contact: Jill Christley Venue: Aspall Room, Kerrison Conference Centre, Stoke Road, Thorndon, nr eye, Suffolk, IP23 7JG Paper Number 1. 3.00 Welcome, apologies and housekeeping 2. Minutes of previous meeting LAF11/12 3. Declaration of interest 4. 3.10 Natural England • Lynda Foster Presentation Lead Advisor, People and Partnerships (Norfolk and Suffolk) • Natural Environment White Paper LAF 11/13 • Local Nature Partnerships LAF 11/14 • Coastal Access Verbal 5. 3.45 Independent Panel on Forestry • Minutes of meetings LAF11/15, 11/16, 11/17 • SLAF letter LAF11/18 • Correspondence with The Ramblers Verbal – AW • Norfolk LAF LAF11/19 6. 4.00 Divestment • Countryside Sites LAF11/20 • Rights of Way Verbal – AW 7. 4.15 SLAF Annual Report to Cabinet LAF10/25 8. 4.25 A11 Verbal – AW 9. 4.35 Correspondence / Update • Ipswich Chord o SCC Response LAF11/21 o Network Rail Reply LAF11/22 • LTP3 Verbal – DF • Coastal Verbal – AW • LAF coordinator Verbal – DF 10. 4.50 Any Other Business 11. 4.55 Public question time 12. 5.00 Dates & Venues of Future Meetings END LAF 11/12 Suffolk Local Access Forum Title: Minutes of meeting held in Westleton Village Hall, on 7 April 2011 Meeting Date: 14 July 2011 Author/Contact: Jill Christley Venue: Aspall Room, Kerrison Conference Centre, Stoke Road, Thorndon, nr Eye, Suffolk, IP23 7JG Minutes of meeting held in Westleton Village Hall on 7 April 2011. 1. Welcome, apologies and housekeeping. Present: Melinda Appleby (MA), David Barker (DB), Bryan Collen (Chairman), (BC), Barry Hall (BH), Ann Langley (AL), Sandy Martin (SM), Gordon Merfield (GM), Alan Moore (AM), Mary Norden (MN), Norman Southgate (NS), John Wayman (JW), Anthony Wright (AWr). Apologies: Jenny Antill, Margaret Hancock, Monica Pipe, Jane Storey, Mike Taylor, SCC Officers Present: Jill Christley (minutes) (JC), David Falk (DF), Andrew Woodin (AW). The Chairman welcomed Simon Leatherdale (Forestry Commission) (SL), Bill Parker (Alde and Ore Futures Manager) (BP) and Nikki Rowbottom (Natural England) (NR). 2. Minutes of previous meeting. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed to be an accurate record. Matters arising: Item 9. DB told the Forum that he and a group of Suffolk farmers had met with Richard Benyon MP to make him aware of proposed changes to the Higher Level Stewardship scheme. They had explained the implications of some of the changes; the loss of permissive access; contradictory rules between Higher and Entry Level schemes on the use of field margins; the impact of reducing education access; the value of routes to users eg. joggers and equestrians. DB felt it had been a good meeting, and at the suggestion of Dan Poulter MP would be taking the issue to the local MEP. ACTION DB will seek an official response to his meeting with Dan Poulter MP. Page 1 of 5 LAF 11/12 3. Declaration of interest. There were no declarations of interest. 4. Future of the Public Forest Estate. SLAF welcomed Simon Leatherdale from the Forestry Commission to the meeting. SL outlined the current position of the Forestry Commission following the recently halted government consultation into the future ownership and management of the public forest estate in England (LAF 11/02 refers). SL described the work of the Forestry Commission, and told the Forum that he believed that the Forestry Commission represent good value for money to the taxpayer, with forestry management costs of £60/ha when managed by the Forestry Commission compared to £136/ha when managed by private organisations. In anticipation of divesting 15% of the public forest budgets for 2011/12 had already been set with a 25% reduction. Following the government’s decision to shelve plans to divest the forest the Forestry Commission were left with a reduction in budget, but no reduction in costs. The Forestry Commission are now awaiting the outcome of the independent panel that the government has put together to consider future forestry policy. An interim report is expected in autumn 2011, with a further report in spring 2012. SL noted that whilst there was a representative on the panel for walking, there was nothing for cyclists or equestrians. The forum discussed the Forestry Advisory Panel and its membership. It was felt that countryside access user groups were poorly represented, especially cyclists and equestrians. SLAF have an opportunity to put forward a representative to the panel who would represent all users of Rights of Way in the public forest. MA agreed to represent SLAF, the other members pledged to support her in the interest of all user groups. ACTION SLAF will write to DEFRA with MA’s name, invite the forest panel to Suffolk to see how forests are used for public access, and express concern about the lack of representation of user groups on the panel. 5. Divesting Countryside Sites. LAF 11/03 refers. A decision on the future of Countryside sites originally had a deadline of 17/2/11, this had been extended for 6 months. AW briefed the forum on ongoing work to prepare for the possible dedication of public access on SCC countryside sites. This had included considering legal implications and maintenance liabilities. AW outlined the sites and routes and described the various considerations for each site. Future maintenance costs, accommodation rights, footpaths, cycle tracks and open access land are all factors being taken into account. Each site is being looked at with a view to maintaining current access for the public whilst considering future costs. Page 2 of 5 LAF 11/12 The forum discussed dedication of rights. AWr felt that routes should be dedicated to meet current needs, rather than try to upgrade later. The forum generally agreed with this. AW sympathised with SLAF’s view, but explained that no decisions had yet been made and SCC need to consider their future budget commitments. ACTION SLAF requested further information on which groups were expressing an interest in the SCC countryside sites, and to be kept informed of further developments. 6. Divestment of public rights of way. AW described the effect of reduced funding on public rights of way in Suffolk. Of the £100,000 budget reduction £60,000 will come from maintenance works, and £40,000 from discontinuing the Access Suffolk project. Now that the Access Suffolk project has ceased other ways of engaging local communities will be considered. By working with local people, and in partnership with other organisations DF is producing leaflets and promoting new walks in various parts of Suffolk, for example a series of routes at Stanton. The £60,000 maintenance budget reduction is to be achieved by, for example, installing less waymarking, and reducing the amount of heavy clearance and surfacing being carried out. SCC will work with local community groups such as parishes, ramblers and land managers to assist in some of these areas. AW asked SLAF members whether their interest groups would be interested in taking on this type of work. The forum discussed this, and felt that people had been discouraged in the past, eg. by health and safety concerns, and it would be difficult to build up volunteer groups. AWr noted that organising volunteers is a job in itself. Volunteers continue to be concerned about health and safety regulations, and insurance liabilities. The forum felt SCC still needed to allocate budget to basic ROW maintenance. 7. Alde and Ore Futures. BC welcomed Bill Parker (Suffolk Coast ICZM Initiative Officer) to the meeting. BP returned to SLAF to outline current progress in the Alde and Ore Estuary since his last visit. The Alde and Ore Futures Project is continuing its work in bringing together organisations and individuals to work towards promoting and developing a long-term sustainable approach to issues affecting the area such as transport, housing and development. The project has identified a number of issues affecting access to the countryside: • Cycling. There is concern about the safety of people cycling in the area. The project is looking for ways of encouraging cycling on quiet lanes similar to the ‘Quiet Lanes’ project in Norfolk. • Walking on the coast. The project is working with SCC to build up the network of routes in the area, and is looking at providing public transport and ferry crossings to create circular routes and link up towns and villages in the area. Page 3 of 5 LAF 11/12 • Orford Ness. Access from Orford to Orford Ness is poor. Damage is being caused when landing boats, so the project is looking into improving access. The National Trust has some funding for this. With six organisations and funding coming from different sources a holistic approach is needed. By bringing together landowners, businesses, individuals and other organisations and pooling knowledge and resources the team hope to achieve improvements to benefit the whole community. AW noted SCC are interested in working with land managers to fill gaps in the access network and. DF noted they may also be able to work with the A&O group through the Balance Project. 8. A11. LAF 11/04 Refers. The inspector’s report and decision has been published. SLAF would like to monitor work to make sure it is carried out to the specification. 9. Ipswich Docks PI – update. LAF 11/05 and LAF 11/05 Appendix 1 refer. Changes to the rights of way in the Docks area present some new challenges for SCC to address the impact on businesses and residents in the area. SM expressed the view that he would welcome a judicial review of the island site decision if the outcome was likely to be positive. SM left the meeting.