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Minutes06121200
Minutes – Meeting 38
Arreton Community Centre
Thursday 6th December 2012


Present at the meeting:
Forum Members:
Sheila Weedall (Chairman)
Mark Earp (Vice-Chairman)
Janie Feakes
Councillor Paul Fuller
Margaret Honeybourne
Christopher Bull
Tricia Merrifield
David Farnham
Anne Noon
Others:
John Gurney-Champion (guest)
Stephen Darch (guest)
Darrel Clarke, Definitive Map Officer, IWC Public Rights of Way Section (PROW)
Forum Secretary:
Jennine Gardiner, Rights of Way Assistant, IWC Public Rights of Way Section (PROW)
  1. Apologies, minutes of previous meeting and matters arising:
    • Apologies were received from, Alec Lawson and Gail Yardley
    • The minutes were approved as a true record of the last meeting.
Dangerous Bridleway Road Crossings:
As agreed at the last meeting a letter was sent to Cllr Giles highlighting dangerous Bridleway road crossing points. SW has received a reply from Cllr Giles, but this was just standard and disappointing. Basically the crux of the reply was that in the absence of any statistical data (i.e injured or killed) there was little likelihood of any schemes being undertaken to improve these junctions, as the IWC has to prioritise its limited funds to try and undertake schemes where there is data to actually show there is a problem.
TM asked if the Local Highways Authority could be guilty of Corporate Manslaughter should someone be killed in the future using the crossing, taking into consideration the years of complaints about this crossing point. However, it is not known if a Local Highway Authority could be prosecuted, as no such successful cases have been made.
A discussion then took place regarding the matter of dangerous bridleways / road crossing points. It was asked if a working party could be arranged but SW explained that in respect of the Island View location (NC31) it was not straight forward or suitable for work to be undertaken without appropriate Traffic Management i.e temporary traffic lights, as measures would be needed to protect workers in the road from oncoming traffic, this then would attract a financial cost. Additionally, consent would have to be obtained from the land owner to carry out works on a private hedge. Highways can serve a hedge notice if the hedge overhangs the highway or footway (so obstructs the width of the road or path), this doesn’t extend to cutting down the height of a hedge.
PF asked what was needed to be achieved to make these crossings more usable, and asked if he could assist in his role as Cllr to bring this matter to the direct attention of Peter Hayward (Strategic Manager for Highways & Transport at the IWC). SW explained in the example of Island View (NC31) it was not just a matter of signing the approaches (warning signs and SLOW road markings already exist) but the actual crossing point is obscured from the view of coming traffic, and then bridleway users have to put themselves out in the road before they can see if anything is approaching. Therefore, in the case of Island View the answer is a junction improvement scheme which would require the removal or lowering of hedges (if lowering then the height needs to be maintained for future years).
Action Points
SW & DF to work together to draft a further letter to Cllr Giles.
SW to forward photos of all the dangerous road junctions to PF
PF to arrange a meeting with Peter Hayward to discuss dangerous bridleway crossings (in general) but using Island View (NC31) & Shorwell Shute (SW49 & SW51) as the main examples
After Meeting Information
Island View NC31 – the local councillors for this location are Colin Richards, Rodney Downer and David Pugh – as this location lays on the boundary of three wards.
Litter Picks
As agreed at the last meeting a letter was sent to all Town and Parish Councils (33) to highlight the issue of litter on PROW and to encourage local Town & Parish Councils to champion litter picks in their locality. Out of the 33 letters issued we had 14 formal replies and a small article, (which did not accurately represent the views of Ryde Town Council), appeared in the County Press after Ryde had its Town Council meeting.
It was felt that in general Town & Parish Councils did not fully understand the role of the LAF and may not understand about PROW within their boundaries. DF still feels there is a general littering problem on PROW and this doesn’t give a good impression to visitors who choose to holiday on the Island. It was agreed it is not for the LAF to physically organise litter picks but the LAF could try and raise the profile or educate on the issue, so that local towns / parishes / community groups can easily understand where they can get help or advice when organising their own litter picking exercise. It seems the problem is more of a rural issue opposed to an urban one. ME mentioned that fly tipping on private land was more of an issue to a landowner than instances of littering. Could “Keep Britain Tidy” stickers be placed on litter bins – can the LAF talk to Keep Britain Tidy organisation to see how we could advise local groups to take the lead on rubbish clearance?
After Meeting Information
Keep Britain tidy website http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/Default.aspx.
JG has checked with Michael Ackril of the IWC Waste Contracts Services to ask his view on having stickers put on Council / Island Roads property. Michael has said as long as the sticker is about littering and relevant to the matter in question, he has not got a problem. He has said most of the litter bins already come with the Keep Britain Tidy emblem embossed on them anyway, but some old style ones don’t.
Not all litter bins will belong to the Council

DEFRA Consultation - Consultation on an order for the Isle of Wight under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (now closed as at 16 Nov 2012) - ME confirmed that he would continue to monitor the results of the consultation (IW Costal Path) and provide updates as he comes across them – It was requested that the IW Costal Path is placed on the agenda in its own right, for next time, so this matter can be debated. (Action ME) http://www.defra.gov.uk/consult/2012/07/24/iow-access-mcaa/

LSTF
SW confirmed that the LAF is included on the list of organisations to be fully consulted on the schemes. However, we have received an email to say that currently no stakeholder meetings have been arranged, but when they are set up the LAF will be included.
  1. Any Declarations of Interest:
There were no declarations of interest.
  1. Disability Sub Group update:
No update was possible as AN needs to liaise with David Howarth. (Action Point) DC to provide AN with DH contact details.
  1. IW Bridleway Group update:
JF advised this is the third year of the Bridleways Group. The group were disappointed with the reply from Cllr Giles regarding the dangerous road crossing points. It seems highways are very proactive in signing and improving junctions when it comes to new cycle routes but are completely reactive to any requests to try and improve existing bridleway road crossing junctions.
In the New Year a ride out will be organised and horse riders will cross the road at Island View NC31 (as previously discussed under the heading dangerous bridleway and road crossings) – the Police have said they will assist with warning signs and it is hoped this will raise the profile of junctions such as this.
SD mentioned the 4X4 club he belongs to had served a S130 notice (which they had found out about by looking at the Ramblers Website) when they had identified a bridge on a byway which was too narrow to allow vehicles to pass over it. The Council had taken what appeared to be rapid action and replaced the bridge. SD suggested that maybe the bridleway group may want to explore the S130 notice to see if it could be served on the IWC to force them to take action, at the Island View site. http://www.ramblers.org.uk/rights_of_way/take_action/get_an_obstruction_removed
DC advised that without looking at the legislation he could not say if a S130 notice would be appropriate for visibility issues.
  1. Public Rights of Way update:
    • DC advised discussions are underway between the IWC and the PFI provider (Island Roads) to see if ROW could go over to PFI when this starts in April 2013. At this stage we have no idea if this will happen, as Island Roads and the IWC are currently looking into the financial issues of including ROW into the contract.
  • DC gave an update on the situation relating to the current long term path closures and the permanent TRO’s (Traffic Regulation Orders) i.e prohibition of pedestrians on these locations. We have drafted a report and this needs to be checked and approved by the Head of Highways and the Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport. Once it has been approved we can then move onto the pre consultation stage were we contact the relevant local councillors, town/parish councils, Police & IW Ramblers in order that they have opportunity to make informal comments and offer support before we formally advertise this to the public. As discussed ROW do not want to make extinguishment orders on these paths, which are at this time unsafe due to land erosion, because if we do this the paths will be removed from the Definitive Map and Statement and could not be recovered should in the future further landslips unwittingly provide an opportunity to reopen them. However, when the LAF members looked at the list of paths currently closed, N59 which is shut because of an unsafe brick wall (which could fall and injure someone on the public footpath) was raised as a concern. The wall is owned by the IWC and forms part of the lease to the adjoining school – there has been a significant delay whilst the property services department and the school debate between them whose responsibility the “wall” is and what action can be taken (the wall is within a conservation area so can’t simply be demolished) ACTION – PF/SW to write to Stuart Love & copy in Cllr Hobart regarding the lack of action / delay in this matter by property services.
LAF RECRUITMENT
  • CHAIRPERSON – SW has now completed the maximum term of 3 years and wishes to stand down – AN was proposed as the new chairperson by DF and seconded by MH - AN was happy to take on this role and will begin as chairperson at the next meeting on the 7th March 2013.
  • NEW LAF MEMBERS - It was agreed that after Christmas we would have another round of recruitment advertising. It was asked if we can have press releases as well as a formal advert, such as in Island Life Magazine or The Beacon, and would it be possible to contact the Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils (IWALC) http://www.iwalc.org.uk/index.php in order to try and attract a representative from this organisation which can then feedback into all local town & parish councils.
Fiona Hanna who works for the IWC AONB unit is keen to become a member, however as she is employed by the authority, and if she was to be recruited, she should only become a non voting member. This is because the LAF must be an independent body and has to be seen as independent from the IWC.
  1. Any other business:
    • Huddle (Defra website for LAF’s), an annual report was required for every LAF to be uploaded onto this website. The IW LAF annual report has been uploaded, and a copy of this is attached for information.
  • SW raised the ROWIP (Rights of Way Improvement Plan). This was a document created in 2006 for the IW. All local highways authorities were required to publish such a document. The ROWIP is one of the ways the local highway authority can identify locations where improvements or changes could be made to enhance the local PROW network. SW felt a lot of handwork was put in by user groups to create this document but wondered when the plan was going to be reviewed and if there was going to be any update on this. The current ROWIP was written for the next ten years i.e 2006 to 2016. The ROWIP can be found on the iwight.com website http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/Transport_strategies/apr/images/AnnexE-RightsofWayImprovementPlan.pdf
  • SW had written to Cllr Giles on behalf of the IW Bridleways Group bring to his attention the needs of equestrians when resurfacing schemes were being undertaken. SW had a copy of Cllr Giles’s reply which was circulated for members to read.
  • ME asked about a possible new cycle track / link from Brading to St Helens, because the parish council had approached the land owner (Southern Water) to see if they could construct a link, to be told the IWC had already been in contact about the same matter. It was asked if this was going to be a shared surface. DC advised he did not know as this would be a possible LSTF scheme of which we have not yet had details.
  • SW reminded everyone she will not be present at the next meeting and DF thanked her on behalf of the LAF for all her hard work as during her time as Chair person.
  1. Next meeting:
The next meeting will be at 4pm on Thursday 7th March 2013 at Arreton Community Hall.

End of meeting
Attachments:
  • Copy of Litter Pick letter sent to Town / Parish Council’s
http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/rights_of_way/images/LAFltrtoPC.pdf and replies received
http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/rights_of_way/images/PCreplies.pdf
http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/rights_of_way/images/CllrGilesreply.pdf
  • LAF Annual Report
http://www.iwight.com/living_here/environment/rights_of_way/images/LAFannualreport.pdf



Page last updated on: 08/01/2013