Paper for Discussion, compiled by SDJC, BHCC, ESCC, HCC & W SCC South Downs National Park Local Access Forum I. INTRODUCTION The “shadow South Downs National Park Authority” (NPA) is due to come into being in April 2010, being fully functioning a year later. This “shadow” will consist of the members, who will meet to make the decisions as to how the NPA will operate. In April 2011 the NPA will become the Access Authority and will therefore be responsible for setting up a statutory Local Access Forum (LAF) for the South Downs. The role of the Local Highway Authority does not change, so the Rights of W ay Improvement Plans (RoW IPs) will remain their responsibility. It is important that in setting up a new LAF for the National Park, roles and responsibilities are clearly established to ensure a workable system emerges. The current South Downs Access Forum is a “non-statutory sub-forum” of the four statutory LAFs (Hampshire, Brighton & Hove, East and West Sussex). It has developed expertise and experience, so its valuable contribution should be acknowledged in establishing the statutory South Downs LAF. It has a balanced and well-reasoned approach to the issues which are considered at formal meetings and at targeted workshops and working groups. It has enthusiastic and well-informed members and has delivered some very useful projects over its short life (see II below). It is administered by the South Downs Joint Committee, which currently oversees access across the East Hampshire and Sussex Downs Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as well as undertaking the management of rights of way in the East and W est Sussex Downs on behalf of the local highway authorities. The local highway authorities have contributed financially towards the management of the Forum. There is clear national guidance on how to set up and run a LAF, which should be supplemented with local knowledge. The four local highway authorities have a legal and practical role in managing access in and around the South Downs. The four statutory LAFs, each having a representative on the South Downs Access Forum, have parts of the South Downs in their county / unitary area, and have an understanding of the various issues associated with advising on access and related issues. II. CURRENT LOCAL ACCESS FORA South Downs Access Forum This has played a valuable role in providing a strategic view across the South Downs and helped co- ordinate county / unitary strategies and plans to seek a consistent view. For example, it is currently compiling a database of the four RoW IPs in order to effectively monitor action, ensure consistency across the South Downs and identify gaps. It also engages in key practical projects, such as mapping all the non-CRoW Act open access land, which has been recently published on Ordnance Survey maps, to give users a “total” picture of Downs’ access. Hampshire To reflect the National Park area in its wider context and need for the NPA to work with the local authorities (eg to spread visitor pressure) the New Forest & SW Hants LAF extends beyond the NPA boundaries. This is an example of the NPA taking a lead, but working with Hampshire and W iltshire County Councils, to jointly manage the appointment and administration of a LAF. As the South Downs LAF will be advising the NPA, local authorities and others, the New Forest model may be a useful model to follow. Hampshire’s RoW IP has been divided into geographic areas, with the South Downs part reflecting the particular issues and needs for people living in and visiting the SD-LAFoptions.NPK300909PB Paper for Discussion, compiled by SDJC, BHCC, ESCC, HCC & W SCC countryside in this area of the county. The Plan has been entitled the ‘Countryside Access Plan’ as it has a more strategic and broader scope than is specified in the statutory guidance. W est Sussex The Countryside Access Forum for W est Sussex is supported by four sub-fora to cover the key landscape areas of the county: the High W eald, Low Weald, Coastal Plain and South Downs. The sub-fora’s role is to provide more detailed information about issues in their areas, input into the RoW IP and help to find ways to improve access. The South Downs National Park occupies 40% of the area of the county, (807 km2) and runs through the middle, which makes it important for the new South Downs LAF to work closely with the W est Sussex LAF to ensure that access issues and solutions are considered across the whole county. East Sussex There is one LAF for the whole county, with no geographic or thematic “sub-fora”. The National Park covers 14% of East Sussex and 18% of the rights of way network; the county town of Lewes is within its boundary, with a number of major urban areas abutting (Eastbourne, Seaford, Newhaven, Peacehaven). There are major ‘honey-pot’ locations, which experience high visitor numbers, notably Beachy Head, Birling Gap, Seven Sisters Country Park and Ditchling Beacon. The South Downs Access Forum was consulted when the RoW IP was being drawn up and items within it that relate to the South Downs have been highlighted. The current and future LAF for the South Downs National Park will be important in taking forward actions in the RoW IP within the South Downs. Brighton & Hove The LAF considers a broad area in and around the conurbation, extending beyond the city boundary into East and West Sussex countryside, up to the top of the South Downs from a user perspective;. It reports to B&HCC as both local highway authority and major landowner of much of the local downland. The South Downs National Park will cover over 40% of the area of Brighton & Hove, so its LAF will formally cover a smaller and mostly urban area in the future. The relationship between the LAFs will be crucial, with the many visitor and large resident population of Brighton and Hove accessing the popular South Downs, where Brighton and Hove abuts East and West Sussex. III. KEY PRINCIPLES In order to establish an effective LAF for the National Park area it will be important to: • Learn from the current players that operate in this field; • Set out good lines of communication as to how the four local highway authority LAFs and the National Park LAF will work together. IV. CONSIDERATIONS 1. Constituting the new Local Access Forum It is assumed that the South Downs LAF will be set up from scratch, with terms of reference and other details drawn from government guidance, and advertisements placed for its membership. The NPA will set up an appointments panel to select the members. It is likely that members of the current LAFs, particularly those with interests in the South Downs, will apply to join the National Park LAF. It will be important for the new members to quickly gain an understanding of both the issues in the South Downs and the complementary roles, responsibilities and activity of the local highway authorities and neighbouring LAFs. RECOMMENDATIONS: SD-LAFoptions.NPK300909PB Paper for Discussion, compiled by SDJC, BHCC, ESCC, HCC & W SCC i. The NPA to invite representatives from local highway authorities to sit on appointments panel. ii. Subject to the skills of the applicants, that the panel selects a good percentage of members from the exiting LAFs, to provide experience and continuity (these posts could be appointed for one year, with a membership review after this transitional period, plus an option to continue with a proportion of the appointments to enable a rolling membership). iii. The induction process to include a session(s) on the work of the local highway authorities and the role of their LAFs, with invitations for reps to attend and ‘get to know each other’. iv. To establish a formal means of communication between all the local highway authority LAFs and the NPA LAF. 2. Process and Time-scale The “shadow NPA” will first meet in April 2010. It is probably not going to consider the South Downs LAF at its first meeting, but it is likely to set it up within the year. POSSIBLE OPTIONS: a. Continue with the non-statutory South Downs Access Forum until the statutory one takes over. b. Set up a “shadow local access forum” for the South Downs, which could be administered on behalf of the NPA until it is fully operational in April 2011. c. Accept there will be a gap, with no statutory local access forum in place for a number of months. 3. Local Access Fora Communication There are a number of matters here which need to be resolved if South Downs’ access issues are to be optimally addressed; getting the communications and relationships right between the local access fora is critical. For example, the NPA will be responsible for Access Land and will need to consult the South Downs LAF; the RoW IPs are the responsibility of the local highway authorities, on which they consult their LAFs. Planning ahead, with clear timescales, will help both the South Downs LAF and its partners. Dealing with matters of mutual or related interest provides a good opportunity for constructive joint or cross-boundary working. RECOMMENDATIONS: i. The South Downs LAF, in parallel with the other LAFs, to have annual forward action programmes, to enable a clear understanding of the work ahead. ii. Cross-fora communication and working to be set out in the terms of reference. iii. Joint working mechanisms to be established for any key areas of work relevant to local highway authorities and/or their LAFs.