Access

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Bridleway Surfaces

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Access/surfaces.htm

Reporting problems on rights-of-way

Hampshire County Council is responsible for keeping rights-of-way free of obstructions, and for maintaining the surface in a reasonable condition. They have recently introduced a new system for reporting problems.

Jul 08

Click here for full Details

Public Inquiry on order for BOAT at Longparish.

The date for this has been set for Tuesday 2 December, at Hurstbourne Prior village hall at 10.00am.

If any rider can provide any evidence of the use of this path since 1949, please contact the Inspectorate, with copies to Hampshire BHS County Access & Bridleway Officer.

Jul 08

Details of the order can be found at www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk

ref FPS/Q1770/7/64; phone 0117 372 8021 or write Room 4/05 Kite Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, B51 6PN.

Many thanks to members in Southampton City who responded to my
request last Summer to contribute to the questionnaire on the
Rights-of-Way Improvement plan (ROWIP). Riders were actually one of the largest user groups to reply, so well done!

The draft ROWIP has now been published, and is available for
consultation on www.southampton.gov.uk - follow the links to the
"Have your say!" section. You have until 31 July.

The RoW section would also like photos of riders within the City.

There are also six areas of common land on which riders have a right
to 'fresh air and exercise', but are at present excluded by bye-laws
(probably unlawful) These are Sholing Common, Southampton Common, The Avenue Lands, Queen's Park, The Parks (Watt's East / Andrew, Palmerston, Houndwell and Hoplands) and Freemantle Common.

If you use, or could use, any of these please contact me
(rking@fsbdial.co.uk).

Jul 07

If you ride on paths within the City it is important that these are recorded as bridleways - please check and if they are not, report back to rights.of.way@southampton.gov.uk.

Successful bridleway claim in Hampshire

The Planning Inspectorate has recently confirmed an order to upgrade Owslebury FP46 to a bridleway. This claim was not based on historic evidence, as this path only came into existence towards the end of the second World War, constructed, it was said, using rubble from the bombsites of nearby Southampton. To make the claim riders had to show they had enjoyed the use of this route, as of right and without interruption over a 20-year period. Past events meant the relevant period was set from 1956 to 1976, so a lot of detective work was needed to find people who had ridden it during those years!

A claim for this path was first made in 1979, but was never investigated by Hampshire County Council (HCC). Riders continued to use the route in the belief that it was a bridleway for another twenty years, but a new landowner then began to challenge their right to do so. They approached the then County Access and Bridleways officer, Mrs. Carol Shoopman, who submitted a new claim in 1998. This was not considered for a further six years, and the case officer recommended it should be rejected due to insufficient user evidence in the early years of the relevant period. Carol was given the opportunity to challenge the case officer's view at a meeting of the Regulatory Committee, and convinced the Committee that the order should be made.

As HCC did not originally support the order they took a neutral position at the subsequent Public Inquiry, so the claimants had to present their own case. By this time Carol had moved to Dorset, but she volunteered to come back to Hampshire for the PI on 14/15 November 2007, and made a very good job of representing the BHS, with the support of Jill Pettit, David Copland, and a dozen riders who came forward to give evidence, despite personal inconvenience. The objectors had little evidence to offer against the claim, and the inspector confirmed the order with modifications.

This led to almost a year of written representations in which the objectors, in the absence of any real evidence, attacked the integrity of everyone they perceived as supporting the claim, including HCC officers, the inspector, the team presenting the claim and their witnesses! They eventually withdrew some of their more outrageous allegations when threatened with legal action, but, surprisingly the inspector allowed six written interchanges before calling a halt to the process in November 2007. The objectors' vituperation obviously made little impression on him as he quickly confirmed the modifications to the order, just in time for the new bridleway to be included in HCC's Review of the Definitive Map 2008, which can now be seen online at www.hants.gov.uk/maps/paths.

I have recently been told that a local landowner has now made a headland path available to riders, I think under an HLS scheme, which enables them to link this new bridleway with an existing bridleway. This not only completes an off-road circuit for local riders, but also keeps them away from the most vociferous objectors, so hopefully everyone is now happy!

This claim only succeeded thanks to the sustained efforts of Carol Shoopman, Jill Pettit and David Copland, and the support of local riders, past and present, who completed 50 user-evidence forms, and made many other statements in support. As present CABO for Hampshire I would like to express publicly our sincere thanks to them all. Carol was presented with an Award of Merit at the BHS November meeting for all the work she has done for the Society, for many years in Hampshire, and now in Dorset.

(Mar 08)

Access - Draft Consultation Plans

Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, all highway authorities must produce a Rights of Way Improvement Plan. Demand and provision of access varies across the county and therefore Hampshire County Council intend to produce 7 plans: Forest of Eversley, Hampshire Downs, South Downs, Forest of Bere, Solent, Test and Itchen and New Forest.

Every plan is based on research carried out with local residents, access user groups, land owners, land managers and farmers, asking about problems they have experienced and improvements they would like to see in the local countryside. Existing research and information is analysed, a detailed map is made of the access resource and a detailed background report is prepared as a factual record.

The need for countryside access is compared to the current access resource; the issues identified and the actions that would resolve these form the Draft Plan which is then made available for public consultation. The Forest of Bere Consultation Draft was issued in September 04 and the Forest of Eversley in November 04. If you still wish to comment on the Forest of Eversley Draft Plan, you have until 28 February to do so. You can download copies of the draft plans from www.hants.gov.uk/countryside/access. They are also available from The Access Development Team, Countryside Service, Mottisfont Court, Winchester, SO23 8ZF, e-mail: access.development@hants.gov.uk.

Work has now commenced on the South Downs and large scale maps are being marked in order to provide information about access for horse riders and enable the Countryside Access Development Officer to understand the extent and condition of the existing network and how it might be improved. The information will be fed into the Countryside Access Plan for the South Downs area of Hampshire. It is also intended to map it onto GIS (Geographical Information System) to provide an overview that will be available to anyone involved in planning and prioritising work to improve the network.

We are currently surveying the paths which riders use within the South Downs area. Our Access Officer, Brenda King, would like you to contact her if you can help (Tel: 01730 264178, e-mail: rking@fsbdial.co.uk) Brenda requires riders from each Parish, with good local knowledge, to take their local map(s), and an accompanying instruction sheet and note the maps with different coloured highlighters to show :

· (pink) the routes that you currently use - including roads and any unmapped links (eg permissive access)

· (blue) the existing routes that have problems - surface problems, overhanging vegetation, narrow road margins, poor visibility at junctions

· (green) the links that need to be made - include a ‘wish list’ of footpath upgrades, potential dedicated or permissive access.

This is your opportunity to try to obtain the safe riding we all want!

2005 PUBLICATION DATES FOR OTHER CONSULTATION DRAFT PLANS

South Downs - Spring

New Forest - Spring

Solent - Summer

Test & Itchen - Summer

Hampshire Downs - Autumn