Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 27 February 2017.

That the minutes of the meeting held on be revised to reflect the attendance of officers at the meeting.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A discussion regarding the Protocol and Procedures of the Local Access Forum took place.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         That a programme of meetings for the next year should be arranged.

·         The Agenda is to be agreed with Officers and the Chair in advance of the meeting.

·         The importance of written reports being available for the production of the agenda and for discussion at the meeting.

RESOLVED – That a meeting was to take place between the Chair of the Forum and Officers to discuss some of the issues that had been raised.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Amy Beasley Telephone 474 4596 email: amy.beasley@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

The views of the Forum were welcomed on all of the issues contained within the report.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Forum members requested maps to enable them to see up to date information on bridleways.  In response it was agreed that this would be reported on at the next meeting of the Forum.

·         The Government plan gives a clear steer on active travel.  In terms of this work this was felt to be very important.

·         A report on the walking and cycling strategy was going to the next scrutiny committee.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Melanie Craven Telephone: 474 4378; email: melanie.craven@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members of the Forum were asked to give their views on whether the walking and cycling routes policies should be changed.

·         It was noted that there was no actual reference to ‘Rights of Way’.

·         It was agreed that Members of the Forum would provide their comments to the Chair and Vice Chair who would then formally respond on the Forum’s behalf.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Emily Brough, Telephone 474 4592 email: emily.brough@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to Members of the Forum.

The Forum was advised that consultation on this issue was due to take place in February.  Unfortunately due to a number of issues, there has been quite a delay on the targeted trajectory.  The Draft Consultation, which was a 12 week statutory consultation, was scheduled to start on 16 October 2017.

It was hoped that a report would go to Cabinet in March for adoption.

Over 1000 responses to the consultation have already been received.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to Members of the Forum.

Members of the Forum were advised that there had been some problems connected with this particular area of work.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members felt that it would be helpful to know what capital expenditure  had been spent on Rights of Way, and what revenue generated.  In response Members were advised that information relating to the current year was on the Council’s website.  The information relating to next year had not yet been set.

·         Members also requested information relating to what monies were available to be spent on problem resolution.

RESOLVED –  (i) That the report be noted.

(ii) That Members of the Forum be provided with information relating to monies available to be spent on problem resolution, as soon as possible.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

Members were advised that all routes have been legally recorded and that Stockport was one of the most up to date in this area.  Another phase of consultation on the Definitive Map could potentially be envisaged, but nothing was planned as yet.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members felt that if the map was up to date in 2013, then it would not be too much work to update it.

·         There are anomalies and so this would not be completely straightforward.

·         Information on the Definitive Statement in sparse, for example, furniture is not mentioned.

·         The online version of the map is only a representation, and it was important to go back to the source.

·         IT issues need to be addressed; it was acknowledged that there was a lack of resources but it was felt that this work could be done over a longer period of time.

·         It was confirmed that the paper version of the map is the definitive version.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

Members of the Forum were advised that when an order is confirmed, the map is updated.  There has to be a register to inform the public when an application has been received.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         The Chair stated that the applications contained little information and requested a link to a map/applicant details.  In response, the advice was that this was information protected under the Data Protection Act.  However consideration was to be given to whether appropriately redacted data could be added so as to comply with regulations.

·         A discussion took place around gating orders/PSPO registers and the S31 register.

RESOLVED – (i) That the report be noted.

(ii) That consideration be given to whether appropriately redacted data could be added so as to comply with regulations.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

A discussion took place around DMMO orders and it was felt that there was an issue with legal services failing to process them promptly enough.

It was hoped that staffing issues in legal services would soon be resolved and that this would mean that the DMMO orders would be processed efficiently.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration will provide a verbal report at the meeting.

Officer contact: Ernest Nama Telephone 474 4595 email: ernest.nama@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Place Management and Regeneration provided a verbal report to members of the Forum.

The Forum was advised that the previous Gating Orders Programme was completed 3 years ago and that all high priority alleyways were gated off.

At the present time, the Executive had agreed that the programme would end.

S.129A Gating Orders would now be converted to Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO).

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members asked whether the PSPO’s would be consulted on.  In response, Members were advised that the current review process was robust.  Reviews had taken place and the police had been consulted. The Council would not be pro-actively seeking residents views, only responding to objections.  There is no funding at the present time for in depth consultation.

·         The Chair asked if the Stockport Local Access Forum could be consulted as they had been originally.  In response, the Chair was advised that the Local Access Forum would be advised when the adverts were being published.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

The Local Access Forum is requested to agree the dates for future meetings.

RESOLVED – That the Democratic Services Manager be asked to arrange a programme of meetings for the next year.