Agenda and minutes

The Chairwelcomed allparties tothe meeting,and everyone introducedthemselves.

Apologies forabsence werereceived fromCouncillors Paul Goggin, Tim Rippington.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

There wereno Declarationsof Interest.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

Noted that Councillor Jonathan Hucker and Paul Goggin were present at the last meeting, Minutes to be amended accordingly.

RESOLVED – thatthe minutesof themeeting heldon 27^th September 2022be confirmedas acorrect record.  

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on 25 January 2023.

Petitions and Statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 30 January 2023.

None received.

The PROW Officers introduced the report and highlighted key points concerning some of the itemslisted (AppendixA - Applications for Definitive Map Modification Orders, Appendix B – Miscellaneous rights of way orders, Appendix C – Enforcement actions and Appendix D – PROW improvement programme).

Members welcomed the updates and arising from discussion the following points were clarified –

1.      Rights of Way that had been blocked for a long period of time maintained their legal status. Problems associated with these were often complex and long standing and, in some cases, the only solutions were to formally divert the footpath or creating a ‘stopping up’ Order so that the highway land ceased to be a highway, road, or footpath.

2.      If a Right of Way was obstructed and the person(s) causing the obstruction was known to the local authority the first course of action was to ask them to remove it. If this was not possible the council could undertake the work and invoice the person(s) concerned. An agreed solution was always the preferred option, but other legislation could perhaps be used if a solution could not be found this might include a Community Protection Notice which seeks to stop a person or body continuing with conduct which unacceptably affected the community.

3.      Members of the committee were also advised that they could formally request the council’s enforcement team officers to use their delegated powers to potentially resolve PRoW obstructions.

RESOLVED– thatthe reportbe noted.

The Committee received a verbal update regarding the progress of the Stoke Lodge Town and Village Green (TVG) Application.

The Legal Officer confirmed that the Inspector’s clerk had said that the Inspector’s report on the Stoke Lodge TVG would be available in early February 2023. Once the report had been received by the Council as Commons Registration Authority, it would be sent to the PROWG Committee and the relevant parties. Liaison with members of the PROWG Committee would then take place to discuss the next steps to be taken to convene a meeting of the committee to take a formal decision.

Members then discussed and agreed that a formal site visit should be arranged once the Inspector’s report had been received. The next meeting of the committee was scheduled for 20 March so a site visit could potentially be in early March, this would be confirmed as soon as possible.

Regarding the site visit the Head of Legal Services confirmed that this was for the benefit of committee members to enable them to understand the context more clearly and although other parties could attend, they would not make statements or ask questions. In answer to a member’s question the Head of Legal Services confirmed that if a member was unable to attend the site visit, they could still take part in the formal committee meeting debate and decision.

The Legal Officer gave details of the process to be followed once the Inspector’s report had been received but following a comment from a member of the public in relation to the sharing of a draft of the report it was agreed that this would be reviewed and confirmed with Members as soon as possible.

RESOLVED– thatthe verbal update be noted, and a formal site visit be arranged once the Inspector’s report had been received.

Members noted the information items as detailed below.

a) Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Installation of signs indicating war graves

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission had offered Bristol Councillors the opportunity to erect signs at churchyards, cemeteries, and burial grounds that contain war graves. The aim of the initiative is to increase awareness of war graves in the UK and to remind the public that they need not travel abroad to find Commonwealth commemorations. The Signs project commenced as part of the centenary of the First World War. 

          b)    Celebrating the restoration of PROW's by organising a photo shoot and press opportunity

Urban Public Rights of Way were the ancient, short cuts taken as busy pedestrians, to make journeys shorter and often more enjoyable. Though they might become overgrown, filled with fly tipping, or even built in or over thereby losing their usefulness.

Ward Councillors would be encouraged to raise the profile of the PROWG team and take the opportunity, when public rights of way in their ward were restored to full use, to organise a photo shoot with the local councillor, residents, and a member of the PROWG team.

It wasnoted thatthe nextmeeting wasscheduled for2pm on 20 March 2023.