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CAIRNGORMS LOCAL OUTDOOR ACCESS FORUM MINUTES OF THE SEVENTH MEETING Held at the Lonach Hall, Strathdon Saturday 22 April 2006 at 10:00 Present Dick Balharry (Convenor) John Grierson Simon Blackett Peter Ord Nic Bullivant Roger Searle Jo Durno Richard Wallace Fred Gordon Andrew Wells (Vice-Convenor) Debbie Greene Jamie Williamson Apologies Mike Atherton Ian Dunlop Helen Geddes Dave Horrocks Jack Hunt David MacKay Ken MacMillan David Selfridge Bryan Wright In attendance Jean Henretty Community Liaison Co-ordinator, CNPA Bob Grant, CNPA Fran Pothecary, CNPA Summary of Action Points AP1: FP to compile short report on outstanding access issues and timescales AP2: FP to ensure Forum members receive information about CNPA, SNH and Paths for All training events AP3: FP to circulate correspondence between John Davidson and the Convenor to Forum members AP4: FP to ask SRPBA for summary proceedings of event and to circulate them to Forum members AP5: FP/BG to progress the idea of a workshop with golf managers in the autumn 2006 Welcome and Introductions 1. Dick Balharry (DB) opened the meeting and introduced Jean Henretty, one of the two Community Liaison Co-ordinator employed by the CNPA Minutes of the last meeting 2. Minutes of the fifth meeting on January 24th and the sixth meeting on March 7th were approved. Matters Arising 3. The Convenor noted that all action had been discharged with the exception of Action Point AP5 which was for Fran Pothecary (FP) to compile a short report on outstanding access issues and timescales, indicating the stage which issues are at. This will be carried forward to the next meeting in June. AP1: FP to compile short report on outstanding access issues and timescales The Forum – Developing its Role 4. It was proposed that in the future minutes would be agreed by the Convenor and Vice Convenor in conjunction with CNPA staff. Once they have been agreed they will be placed as draft minutes on the CNPA website. Revisions and approval of the minutes will be dealt with at the subsequent meeting and the approved version placed on the website. 5. It was also agreed that any Local Outdoor Access Forum (LOAF) correspondence between LOAF members and CNPA staff would be relayed through, and involve, the Convenor and Vice Convenor to ensure strong roles for them in relation to Forum business. 6. It was agreed that acronyms would only be used once their full meaning had been outlined, and that thought would be given to providing a glossary of terms to accompany large documents such as the Outdoor Access Strategy (OAS). 7. The discussion moved on the Forum setting itself a training programme and identifying areas for further development. It was suggested that signage would be a good issue for the Forum to have a better appreciation of – it was noted that in fact the Land Based Business Training Project (LBBT) would be delivering training on this subject later in the year. It was also suggested that Forum members might like to visit a specific estate to look at a ‘live’ access issue on the ground, so to speak, although the sensitivities of this were recognised. Alternatively it was suggested that Forum members could bring forward ‘’example’ cases for a theoretical discussion. 8. In summary future topics for training included: a) Core path networks b) Example access issues c) Signage 9. It was agreed that Forum members would be kept abreast of training opportunities through Scottish Natural Heritage’s Sharing Good Practice Programme and the CNPA’s Land Based Business Training Project. AP2: FP to ensure Forum members receive information about CNPA, SNH and Paths for All training events 10. Dick Balharry (DB) had received correspondence from a member of the public over the role of the Forum and shared it with the Forum to enlighten them on some of the ways in which the Forum and Park Authority were being perceived in respect of outdoor access. DB intended to share this at the open meeting in the afternoon. 11. It was agreed that individual correspondence should always be acknowledged but that it might not always be appropriate or time efficient to respond in detail to letters received, especially from repeat correspondents. AP3: FP to circulate correspondence between John Davidson and the Convenor to Forum members 12. This brought the Forum round to a discussion on the communication strategy and how it could be used to let people know about the work of the Forum and the Park Authority in outdoor access. A range of opinion was expressed on the immediate value of this – it was recognised for example that the first year of operation had largely considered procedural matters and could be perceived as somewhat dry; but there was also a feeling that the Forum had plenty to celebrate and had played a useful role to date. It was pointed out that the Forum is advisory and therefore the emphasis of communication should be on how the Park Authority utilises and deploys the advice given to it by the Forum. The Involvement of Forum members in access casework 13. Bob Grant (BG) introduced the paper and referred back to the meeting of 24th January 2006 when a range of opinion was expressed on the merits or otherwise of Forum members being involved directly in resolving access disputes. 14. He reiterated that the strength of the Forum was in the diversity of background of members, and that there was a risk of individual members getting drawn into disputes. 15. Fran Pothecary (FP) referred to the fact that several Forum members had already been involved in the capacity of information gathering or building up a background picture to an access issue, and this had proved very helpful to access staff. 16. The Forum agreed the recommendation in the paper. SRPBA and NFUS Joint Event for Local Access Forum members 13 April 2006 17. Verbal feedback on this event was received from the three Forum members who had attended - Simon Blackett, Jamie Williamson and Andrew Wells. 18. Issues that had been raised and discussed at the event included: a) The inclusion of water as core paths b) The importance of consultation especially with land managers in the initial stages of core path planning c) The inclusion of new ‘aspirational’ routes in the core path network d) The use of Land Management Contract money to support path networks e) Multi-use or ‘segregated’ paths f) The difference stages of advancement in Core Path Planning (CPP) between local and national park authorities g) Section 11 orders – their fees, costs, signage and reasons for use (music festival; car rallies; police driving course; G8 summit) h) Section 14 notices – only two served to date in East Lothian and Ross and Cromarty and both being referred to Sheriff for determination 19. Overall the members reflected that in many respects CNPA were ahead of the game compared to other authorities but this might mean that we make more mistakes in forging new ground AP4: FP to ask SRPBA for summary proceedings of event and to circulate them to Forum members Update of access casework 20. FP did a power point presentation outlining the progress that had been made on four estates with access issues, and on the matter of access over golf courses. 21. The Forum was informed that the issue with Rothiemurchus over access to the water at Loch an Eilein had been resolved and that the signs were down. 22. It was acknowledged that Abergeldie Estate had come along way in opening up access by installing stiles, but that work still remained to be done to ensure better accessibility and it was suggested that further approaches to Abergeldie Estate might be best achieved in conjunction with a Board member. 23. It was suggested that the Park Authority take a pro-active stance with regards to the issue of access over golf courses and explores the possibility of a workshop with golf course managers to further understanding of the primary legislation in respect of golf courses, and a common interpretation of the Code. 24. The Forum was informed that further consideration of access to Loch Kinord would be tabled for the next meeting in June. AP5: FP/BG to progress the idea of a workshop with golf managers in the autumn 2006 Briefing for Annual Event 25. FP reminded the Forum of the structure and format of the afternoon and invited them to participate fully in responding to questions from the floor and meeting with the public. Dates for Next Meetings 26. Tuesday 13 June, Glen Clova – meeting 12pm for lunch in Clova Hotel followed by site visit. Business meeting of Forum 5.00 -7.30pm The meeting closed at 12:30pm