Feasibility Study into Access Improvements in the River Hun Catchment Area Jack Davidson National Trail Officer, Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path Norfolk Trails January 2020 - This is a redacted report due to ongoing discussions regarding the designation of a Right of Way covered within the report. Comments regarding the Right of Way in question have been redacted at the current time. Contents 1. Background 2. Introduction to Existing Access 3. Circular Walks 4. Norfolk Coast Path National Trail 5. Other Public Rights of Way 6. Potential for New Routes 7. Open Access Land 8. Notes on Public Access in the Wider Study Area 9. General Design Specifications 10. Quantity Survey 11. Public Rights of Way Reference Maps 1. Background As management group for the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the Norfolk Coast Partnership has commissioned this study to explore the feasibility of improving local access and access for tourism within the River Hun’s catchment area, with a focus on raising the standard of accessibility to walkers, cyclists and users with limited mobility. Throughout the study, as well as accessibility, focus is placed on the long-term resilience of the suggested improvements, and consideration is given to short and long term impact of suggested schemes. The Norfolk Coast Partnership has provided a brief for this study that asks for suggestions for circular walks be costed, as well as an examination of existing access to Public Rights of Way (PRoW) and open access land, and how this can be improved. While the study area is ‘the River Hun catchment area,’ the brief has specified a greater focus on the area from Old Hunstanton to Holme-next-the- Sea (Holme) to Thornham: the area immediately adjacent to the ‘Lower River Hun’. As Hunstanton Park is open to the public on Thursdays only, access to that land will not be considered as part of this study. Where ‘the study area’ is mentioned, then, this will refer to this tighter focus. The term ‘wider study area’ will be used to refer to the river catchment as a whole. 2. Introduction to existing access Broadly speaking, pedestrian links between Old Hunstanton and Thornham are good, with the Norfolk Coast Path linking the three villages, and Hunstanton FP10/Holme FP10 (Hunstanton/Holme FP10) forming an additional link between Old Hunstanton and Holme. Access improvements to both of these routes are considered below in greater detail. Cycling links between the villages are less attractive, with the A149 forming the only option at present. During a review of literature on existing access, the findings of community surveys carried out in the preparation of the Holme Neighbourhood Plan (HNP) came to light. Several of these provide some direction for this study’s consideration of access improvements. The most significant of these findings are as follows: 50% of respondents in Holme stated that footpaths and walks were ‘very important,’ 55% that nearby nature reserves and wildlife were ‘very important’, and 60% stated that green and open spaces within the village are ‘very important’. 80% of respondents considered the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to be ‘very important’. The HNP also highlights a small but strong and active resident community, and a general feeling within that community that there are not enough paths or cycleways. A recent community meeting between the Norfolk Coast Partnership and residents of the parishes of Thornham and Holme highlighted this sentiment again, but specifically that there is a lack of footpaths between Holme and its two larger neighbouring villages of Thornham and Old Hunstanton. These meetings have also raised the fact that there is a lot of visitor pressure on the Holme Dunes Nature Reserve. Indeed, the Norfolk Coast Path (NCP) counter on the site highlighted an average of 2156 visitors/month during FY17/18, with August being the most popular month with 3436 visitors, and January being the least with 1202 visitors. It should be pointed out that these numbers only reflect NCP users between Flaxley and the reserve; the total number of visitors to the site as a whole are almost definitely much higher, as anecdotally speaking, many visitors seem to park at the NWT visitor centre and head straight to the beach, never passing the NCP counter. With a combination of good promotion and access improvements, the routes suggested below could offer strong alternatives to driving to the NWT visitor centre, and act to spread visitor use of the reserve more widely across the site than at present. The alignment of PRoWs in the area relative to the NCP lends itself well to the creation of circular walks to link the villages. There is also potential, with sufficient funding and the cooperation of local landowners, to create permissive cycling routes, or potentially dedicate such routes as Restricted Byways (RBs). This report will discuss each of these possibilities in turn, highlighting indicative costs via general design specifications, and outlining the legal mechanisms by which new public access could be created. There is only a small amount of open access land in the wider study area at present, and access to this land is considered in this report too. 3. Circular Walks There are two circular walks that are of particular interest in the study area, one which is already in existence, and once which is proposed below. The Thornham circular walk was created with a focus on the area’s rich history in mind, and is part of a series of walks with a strong heritage focus along the coast. The proposed River Hun circular is something that that the Norfolk Coast Partnership’s brief has specifically requested be examined by this study. Thornham The already-signed Thornham Walk is a 21/4 mile route with a ‘spur’ along the Norfolk Coast Path leading to an interpretation point (to be installed April 2019). This spur also crosses the Hun outfall sluice, where visitors are given quite a good view upstream. Starting east from the village hall, the route passes the majority of the village’s businesses, before following the Norfolk Coast Path via Thornham FP3 and FP1, and returning inland via Thornham FP16 and Holme FP11. Improvements to this route should focus on the north-most 175m of FP11, and on FP16. The 160m boardwalk on FP16 is in an acceptable state of repair at the time of its last inspection (06.02.2019), however, its width of only 700mm means that it is that it is not wheelchair or pushchair accessible, and that it is difficult for users to pass one another. The length of FP16 is often muddy, particularly after prolonged periods of wet weather. This has caused the path to wear unevenly and form a crossfall throughout most of its length. The removal of this boardwalk, and subsequent installation of a 175m accessible piled boardwalk would allow much less restrictive access along FP11. If this were combined with the installation of 628m of Engineered Stone Path 1 and a 5x5m field crossing pad 164m south of the flood bank on the line of FP16, year-round access for most users would be possible throughout the whole length of this circular route. A replacement 7m Bridge at the junction of FP11 and FP16 would also be required to achieve this, as the current bridge is only 800mm wide, with stepped access. It should be noted that these improvements would not only reflect the completion of a high-quality, high-accessibility circular route from the village of Thornham, but also a more direct route from the village to Holme Dunes Nature Reserve, and the NOA observatory, too. With the correct promotion, this should have the effect of reducing parking pressure on the central area of Holme Dunes Nature Reserve, by offering parking at Drove Orchards and Thornham Village Hall – if the owners of these establishments were willing to work towards this end. The combined route of Holme FP11 and Thornham FP16 is also an ideal link between the Coastliner bus stop and the reserve, and the suggested improvements would make public transport a more accessible option for visits to the reserve. The route takes in much of the same landscape as the main part of the reserve, and the flood bank section actually offers some of the best views over the saltmarsh, Broad Water and the grazing marshes too. As FP11/FP16, when linked with the NCP, is also a shorter route between Holme and Thornham than that of the NCP alone, the suggested improvements would increase the efficacy of the NCP as a local link between the two villages. River Hun Circular Walk (proposed) At three miles, this could be a very popular route for tourists to experience this stretch of the NCP without walking the same stretch in two directions, as well as an important pedestrian link between Old Hunstanton and Holme, if surface improvements were to be made to Hunstanton/Holme FP10. The route makes use of Hunstanton FP13 (NCP), Holme RB2 (NCP), Holme FP1 (NCP), Holme FP3, Hunstanton/Holme FP10 and Hunstanton FP3, and would also require the agreement of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) to a short section of permissive access between Broad Water Road and the NCP at the eastern tip of the route. Improving the accessibility of this route adjacent to Holme Dunes Nature Reserve and promoting it as a good alternative to a visit to the reserve itself should prove to be an effective measure to lessen recreational impact on that site. As accessibility on the Holme Dunes site is generally quite good, this effect would rely on the accessibility of this circular route being better, placing a high importance on prospective improvements to Hunstanton/Holme FP10, as detailed below.