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CAIRNGORMS LOCAL OUTDOOR ACCESS FORUM 

MINUTES OF THE SIXTH MEETING 
Held at the Albert Memorial Hall, Ballater 

Tuesday 7 March 2006 at 16:00 


Present 

Mike Atherton 		Peter Ord 
Dick Balharry (Convenor) 	Roger Searle 
Simon Blackett 		Richard Wallace 
Nic Bullivant 		Andrew Wells (Vice-Convenor) 
Jo Durno 			Jamie Williamson 
Helen Geddes 		Bryan Wright 
Debbie Greene 
John Grierson 
Jack Hunt 


Apologies 

David MacKay 
Dave Horrocks 
Ken McMillan 
David Selfridge 
Fred Gordon 
Ian Dunlop 


In attendance 

Adam Streeter-Smith, Paths for All Partnership 
Murray Ferguson, CNPA 
Bob Grant, CNPA 
Sandra Middleton, CNPA 
Fran Pothecary, CNPA 


Summary of Action Points 

There were no action points arising from the meeting. 


Welcome and Introductions 

1. Dick Balharry (DB) opened the meeting and noted that there would be discussion 
of only a single item, the open meetings paper, before the business meeting was 
closed to allow the workshop to commence. 


Minutes of the last meeting 

2. These were not considered at this date and are scheduled for approval at the 
following meeting on Saturday 22 April 2006. 


Paper 1: Moving Towards Open Meetings 

3. Fran Pothecary presented the paper and a short discussion ensued. 
Reservations were expressed about the potential difficulties of managing 
sensitive casework issues in a public forum; and the effect that the presence of 
the public might have on the nature of the discussion. 

4. However there was also support for the idea on the basis that open meetings 
give opportunities to showcase the Forum’s work and help the public understand 
the role of the Forum. It is also an opportunity for dialogue with the public. It was 
also considered that certain items could be held in ‘camera’ and a review of the 
success of open meetings could be held in due course. It was also noted that 
although there would be a more limited availability of venues to ensure allabilities 
access, this was easily managed to the benefit of all. 

5. The Forum agreed that as from April 22nd 2006 Forum meetings would be open to 
the public and advertised by way of a notice in the press. 


The meeting closed at 16:15 to allow the commencement of the Outdoor 
Access Strategy workshop