General Council 2011    

General Council Outcome.pdf
 

 Ordinary Resolutions Submitted   

1.         Standing Orders Amendment - Inner London Area
 
That the Standing Orders of Association be, and are hereby, amended as follows.  In Standing Orders A4, delete the first sentence and replace with “The Agenda Committee shall consist of 2 members of the Board of Trustees and 5 members elected by the General Council and from the General council or the prior year’s General Council”.
 
Background Notes
To allow more members to stand for the Agenda Committee in the context of the increased emphasis the Board has placed on encouraging Area to send delegates to General Council who haven’t attended previously, and the deadline for nominations being some weeks before those members have had the opportunity to attend Council.
 

Motions Submitted

 
2.         Rights of Way spending cuts – Nottinghamshire Area
 
This General Council considers that the large-scale cuts in local authority rights of way funding will lead to an increasing deterioration in the quality of rights of way in England and Wales.  It urges the Board of Trustees to bring to the government’s attention the wide benefits of a well-maintained rights of way network for healthy recreation and tourism, and the damaging effects of a reduction in funding.  It further urges the Board of Trustees to organise a high profile national campaign for the protection of rights of way, including, if thought appropriate, a national rally at a central location.
 
Background Notes

 Large Scale cuts to Rights of Way funding
 
LA now under funded with reduced staffing.  Not able to carry out statutory responsibility.  Some LA’s have completely been closed down therefore no provision being provided.  Quote situation in 1960 and compare with today.
Use Tom Franklin Quote of the current situation. Describe the problem under funding creates in long term.Need to highlight the importance of rights of way. Quote the Foot & Mouth situation and the effect on the countryside.
Today we have professional ROW Staff. The cuts will make a large number redundant. This is not in the best interest of ROW.
 
 Benefits of a well maintained path network
 
Quote the health benefits. Tourist Benefits. Opportunities for landowners to diversify i.e. Bed & Breakfast, Café, Stabling etc. Providing young generation with enjoyment of Countryside to create an interest for life. A well managed rights of way system is in the interest of all landowners.  More people using the ROW provides a policing policy for landowners. Need to see ROW Staff working more closely with Councillors and landowners to demonstrate importance of ROW. Better links with Access Forums in highlighting benefits of a well managed ROW system. Maintain a contact with path users and landowners to work together.
 
 Organise a high profile national campaign

 Board of Trustees (BoT) to highlight to government the need for access as well as conservation /agriculture in white paper.
(BoT) to work closely with RA areas and all user groups to highlight the importance of promoting the ROW as part of the National Environment. Quote Adrian Morris campaign.
See that RA Areas set up a ROW Monitoring system i.e. Wardens scheme.
(BoT) organise high profile TV/Radio interviews to highlight the importance of ROW and the need to maintain a well managed path network.
(BoT) to work closely with MP’s to highlight importance of a well managed path network.
 Highlight the statutory process of a ROW department in respect of Legal searches etc.
 Link up with RA Areas to organise walking events to gain maximum benefits to promote all types of walks i.e. urban walks, short county walks, farm walks history walks, health walks etc
(BoT) to organise a high profile national rally at a central location to show the interest of ROW network. Membership benefits for RA with high profile campaign.


 
3.         Rights of Way Network – Sussex Area
 
This General Council believes that for the Ramblers to fully protect the Rights of Way network, it is imperative that sufficient expert staff are always available to scrutinize Highway Authority Orders and similar documents received by the Ramblers in our role as a body that must be consulted, thereby enabling us to take legally appropriate action promptly when required. Therefore it calls upon the Board to embark on a training programme for existing staff, or to consider recruitment in order that sufficient expert staff are in place as soon as possible.
 
Background Notes
This motion has arisen due to a situation in East Sussex uncovered by chance by the Senior Policy Officer.  The County Council had issued an instruction to the Districts that, when making Diversion Orders under the Town & Country Planning Act S245 they should insert clause from the Wildlife & Countryside Act S53, an instrument limited to the Surveying Authority and thus invalid if carried out by a District.  Had he not been made aware of it because of an unusual request from a district council officer, it would likely have been overlooked both by less experienced staff and footpath volunteers in East Sussex.  Had that happened and the situation been allowed to continue, it would have led to path being diverted illegally, and thus open to extinguishment by landowners in the future.
 
In the past (ten years ago) there were sufficient experienced policy officers in place to review all Orders received by Central Office before they were distributed to Areas, so problems such as the one referred to would have been spotted.  However, now there are only two such staff so orders are often scrutinized by less experienced staff and furthermore, the qualified staff is frequently out of the office on other duties, or may be on holiday or sick.  In order to continue to maintain the core function of the Ramblers to protect rights of way, it is essential that sufficient qualified staff are available to provide cover and to carry out Order reviews effectively.

 
4     HS2 Railway Lines – Warwickshire Area and Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes & West Middlesex Area
 
This General Council believes that construction of the proposed High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line would scar many attractive areas of England, cause a high degree of damage to rights of way, and adversely affect local communities and facilities for outdoor recreation.  Council therefore urges the Board of Trustees to join other like minded bodies in campaigning against HS2.
 
 
 
Original Motions from Areas:
Warwickshire Area
In view of the high degree of damage to rights of way, the beauty of the countryside, and facilities for open-air recreation that would be caused by the proposed High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line, General Council urges the Board of Trustees to join other like-minded bodies in campaigning against HS2.

Background Notes
The most damaging argument against HS2 is financial, this Country simply cannot afford it – but that is a case for other people to make, not the Ramblers.  This Warwickshire resolution concentrates solely on opposing HS2 from within our constitutional objectives of footpath and countryside protection, both of which will suffer severe damage (and not only in Warwickshire) if this ill-conceived project is allowed to proceed.
This motion is not anti-railway, it is pro countryside.  A fraction of the £20 billion proposed to be spent on constructing this vanity-project would be sufficient to improve our existing footpath (and rail) network beyond recognition.  Indeed, due to Council cuts in footpath maintenance budgets, we risk the path network becoming less easily usable than before.  But HS2 will wipe paths off the map for ever – along with untold acres of unspoiled countryside that this small island can ill afford to lose.  These, surely, are legitimate concerns against which the Ramblers should campaign.
 
Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes & West Middlesex Area
This General Council believes that construction of the HS2 rail link, which would scar many attractive areas of England, destroy a large number of rights of way and adversely affect many local communities, is premature.  It therefore calls upon the Board of Trustees to oppose outright the construction of HS2 until all the alternatives have been fully, publicly and independently costed and considered at a public inquiry, and to seek out and join other like-minded bodies in opposing it.
Background Notes
“HS2” should be interpreted as meaning not just the currently preferred route but the multi-high-speed concept which was the basis of the report by HS2 Ltd to the government, including other routes and possible northward extensions;
“destroy…. rights of way” should be interpreted as meaning not just path closures but also loss of utility of nearby routes due to noise levels;
“alternatives” should be interpreted as meaning not just the other ultra-high–speed routes mentioned in the HS2 report but also examination of wider options in the context of a national transport strategy as suggested in the CPRE document “Getting Back on Track”.
This should not be viewed as an “anti-rail”, or even anti-higher-speed-rail, motion; it merely challenges the apparent assumption behind HS2 that achievement of the highest possible speeds should outweigh all other, including environmental, considerations.  The motion is fully consistent with the Ramblers’ traditional support for public transport.

 
5.     Consultation on Initiatives – Shropshire Area
 
Whilst this General Council applauds the stream of initiatives from the Trustees and Ramblers staff, it asks the Board of Trustees where Areas or Groups are required to take action to implement an initiative, then due consideration is given to:
1.      Consulting where practicable with representative Areas or Groups first as to the feasibility of implementation, and
2.      The timescales required for Areas or Groups to plan and implement the initiative.
 
Background Notes
Groups were asked to implement a campaign in March to recruit new members, with a special financial incentive.  This was too short notice for an effective campaign which needed 6 months’ preparation.  Two Shropshire Groups had protested to this effect.
 

6.    Walk Leader’s Check List – East Yorkshire & Derwent Area
 
This General Council is concerned that the complexity of the Walk Leader’s Check List may deter current and potential new walk leaders and, therefore calls on the Board of Trustees to substitute a simplified version limited to basic essential recommendations, supplemented, where appropriate, by separate documents giving codes of best practice for particular situations, such as walks in remote or mountainous areas and walks designed for children or vulnerable adults.
 
Background Notes
We feel the revised Walk Leader’s Check List is over complicated and doesn’t take into account that the bulk of our walks are in low lying, low risk walking country.  We also feel the WLC puts too much responsibility on the Walk Leader, when much of what is required could and should be shared by those walkers accompanying him/her.

 
7.         Get Walking Keep Walking – Greater Manchester & High Peak Area
 
General Council urges the Board of Trustees to ensure that the success of the Get Walking Keep Walking initiative is embedded in future Ramblers activities and programmes so that:
·        We will be able to recruit new members through this activity
·        We return to our roots of providing access for those whose lives are such that they are not able to readily access walking and all its pleasures because of economic, social, cultural or other obstacles.
 
Background Notes
Manchester Get Walking has been very successful and through its support a new group has been set up in Manchester and Salford.  Greater Manchester & High Peak Area through the secretary has been trying with other local groups to extend this initiative.
 
It is important because much of the early activity of organisations who were the forerunners of the Ramblers was aimed at improving access for the poor and working class rather than the privileged middle class.  The model of supporting walking used by GWKW is one way of trying to encourage more people to walk – with all the benefits that flow from that.  In time we hope it will encourage new people to join the Ramblers too.

 
8.      Regional Structures – Inner London Area
 
This General Council, recognising that there is a need for the Rambler’s regional structures to be, wherever possible, coterminous with strategic local authority boundaries and taking cognisance of the possibility that Ramblers’ Central Office will move out of London in the near future, calls upon the Board of Trustees to undertake a re-appraisal of Area structures within the geographical area covered by the Greater London Authority, including consulting with the existing Areas, and to report their findings and subsequent recommendations to the Ramblers 2012 General Council for consideration.
 
Background Notes
In addition to 32 London boroughs and the City of London, the Greater London Authority has a strategic role in many areas which have an impact on the walking environment.  Co-ordination of work in relation to the GLA and the area it covers is difficult at worst and challenging at best as the structure of the Ramblers in London does not relate to the GLA boundary.  Responsibility rests with several different Areas and Central Office.  The creation of the Ramblers Greater London Forum is an important step forward in bringing together the various elements of the Ramblers which have members in the GLA area.  The Forum is working towards being recognised as the key body for dealing with GLA-wide issues and at some stage it is likely that the need for a formal Ramblers body which is coterminous with the GLA will become essential.  The obvious solution would be to create a Rambler’s Greater London Area.  This motion asks for the Board of Trustees to begin to explore this option.
 

9.    Abandoned proposal of selling off/leasing Forestry Land – Hampshire Area
 
This General Council welcomes the decision of the Government to abandon its proposals for the sell-off or leasing of Forestry Commission land.  Keeping this land in public ownership will provide the best protection to both Rights of Way and Access.  Council urges the Board of Trustees to adopt a strong policy of opposition to any future proposals for the sale or lease of Forestry Commission land.
 
Background Notes
This topic was discussed at some length at the Hampshire Area AGM in February.  The spirit of this motion got overwhelming support from those present, who felt that the emphasis should be on opposing the sale or lease of Forestry Commission land.
 
Hampshire members noted the very strong public opposition to the proposals and expressed disappointment that the Ramblers were not at the forefront of the campaign.  Prevention of the sale/lease should ensure that Rights of Way and Access are protected.  This should also mean that car parks and children’s play areas, which are particularly valuable for local communities, are retained.
 

10.       Campaign Policy Progress – Essex Area
 
This General Council is concerned at the lack of information on progress with the Campaign Policy adopted by General Council in 2010 regarding gaining access to woodland, river banks and canals subject to exclusions of domestic areas.  Given the newly perceived threat to such areas by the possible sale of Forestry Commission assets, this Council urges the Trustees to take positive action forthwith.
 
Background Notes
Last year’s Essex motion was passed and became part of Ramblers national policy.  As yet, the Board of Trustees appears to have done little to progress the policy.  We are now facing the possible sell-off of Forestry Commission land.  Whilst we understand that much of the access to these woodlands is protected, we are particularly concerned that the ancillary assets like waymarking, access points, upkeep of paths and the provision of car parks are in jeopardy.
 

11.    Government Guidelines on path structures - Hertfordshire & North Middlesex Area
 
This General Council welcomes the issuing of government guidelines on the authorisation of path structures by local authorities, with emphasis on the least restrictive option.  Recognising that few local authorities yet follow this guidance fully, Council asks the Board of Trustees to ensure that all our members are made aware of its key features and that in particular our footpath secretaries are given specific guidance and encouraged to assist their authorities in implementing it.
 
Background Notes
This motion references the paper ‘authorising structures (gaps, gates and stiles) on rights of way – Good practice guidance for local authorities on compliance with the Quality Act 2010’ issued by DEFRA.  We note the excellent summary of the provenance of the document and its recommendations in the Publications Section of the latest Footpath Worker.  (Vol 26, No 4, Page 18).  A Senior Policy Officer from the Ramblers and a member of our Area were members of the committee developing the guidance.  The object of the motion is for Ramblers policy to be to actively promote the recommendations of the paper.
 
These new guidelines, if understood and kept to, will result in significant furtherance of access to our path network.  They require clear standards for new path furniture to be adopted and insisted on.  They provide mechanisms, not previously thought to exist, for continually matching the structure to the landowner’s real need for it.
 
A fair number of highway authorities follow many aspects of the guidance but the object of this motion is that the Ramblers should encourage all authorities to do so.
 
The guidance paper is quite dense and to be acted on needs to be fully understood.  To this end a small charitable trust, the Pittecroft Trust (involving our Area member), is working on a summary explanatory booklet which is expected to be available before this General Council.
 

12.       Direct Debit Incentive – North Strathclyde Area
 
This General Council notes that there has been introduced an incentive for new members who join at the full rate by direct debit - £10 off individual and joint membership for the first year.  However, it deplores the fact that concessionary rates paid by direct debit will not quality for the discount.  It calls upon the Board of Trustees to ensure that, as soon as practicable, a similar incentive is provided for concessionary rate members.  It further calls upon the Board of Trustees to ensure that any future incentives do not discriminate against concessionary rate members.
 
Background Notes
This motion refers to the fact that the new incentive for new members who pay their subscription by direct debit is not available to those paying concessionary rates.
 
The proposers believe that such discrimination is unjustifiable.  When the question was put to the Chief Executive at one of the meetings with volunteers, he argued that, as the concessionary rate is cheaper, those paying this already have a discount.  That argument is not relevant, as the discount given is for the first year only, to encourage people to join the Ramblers.
 
This discrimination towards those needing the concessionary rate could have the opposite effect, and does not sit well with the Business Plan 2010/11 where, among the target groups for new members, the very first category mentioned is those who are active retired or approaching retirement.  Not giving the first year discount to concessionary rate payers will discourage the less well off, and this will have a negative effect on membership, so that the advantages gained from the discounted membership offer may well be negated.
 
All members of the association should be treated alike and therefore all offers should apply to all types of membership.
 

13.       Equestrian establishments causing footpath problems – North Wales Area
 
This General Council urges the Board of Trustees to cause guidance to be developed and issued to volunteers, covering law, strategy and tactics relevant to footpath problems caused by equestrian establishments.
 
Background Notes
Our main issue is caused by the building of facilities (associated with horse riding as a sport) without any regard to public footpaths in the immediate vicinity.  The frequency of serious problems to footpaths, caused by equestrian establishments, appears to be increasing.  Local authorities seem unwilling or unable to address these issues, possibly because the perpetrators sometimes appear very wealthy or well connected.
 
The credit crunch has not seen these problems go away; there seem to be more planning applications for facilities affecting PRoW, and for diversions.
The problems vary, examples in order of severity:
·          Removal of waymarks & signposts, and making use difficult;
·          Electrified tapes and/or post & rail fences across the line of a footpath;
·          Some walkers may find certain types of horses intimidating;
·          Fields being divided into paddocks making it impractical to use a footpath;
·          Locked gates;
·          Stables and training yards being constructed across the line of a footpath;
·          Obstructions that cannot be circumvented.
These problems may be planning issues, i.e. a change of land use from agriculture to a non-agricultural use (horses are not agriculture), rather than a footpath obstruction issue.  Our problem is that we are, perhaps, too slow off the mark in detecting these changes, and in informing the planning authority of the presence of a footpath.  Often these changes are not referred to the planning authorities (for various reasons), which makes it more difficult for us to prevent these types of footpath obstructions.  Hence there is a need for guidelines and support.  Ramblers already have guidelines concerning paths across golf courses.
 
 
 
14.       Usage Level of Access Land – Mid Lancashire Area
 
This General Council is concerned about the continuing low level of usage of access land.  The main reason why many walkers are reluctant to use access land is because they do not know where the access points are located; this is both to gain access to access land and within access land.  Some local authorities have attempted to provide publicity about access points but this is frequently of poor quality.  In many other places the publicity about access points is non-existent.  Therefore the publicity on how to use access land needs to be improved, with ideally the access points being shown on OS 1:25,000 maps.  General Council recommends that the Board of Trustees campaigns on this issue.
 
Background Notes
Prior to 2004 (commencement of open access as a result of CRoW) the OS on its Explorer Series maps used to use a purple arrow to show an access point.
 

15.       Rights of Way Network – West Riding Area
 
This General Council notes with approval the inclusion of Rights of Way as a key priority in the Business Plan for 2011/12 and calls for Rights of Way to have high priority in the association’s future Business Plans until such time as the entire Rights of Way network in England and Wales is legally compliant.
 

16.       Multi-User Paths – Greater Gwent Area
 
This General Council believes that all multi-user paths on OS maps should be defined differently from cycle paths, including those which form part of a national cycle network route.  General Council calls upon the Board of Trustees to negotiate with the Ordnance Survey.
 
Background Notes
The Lower Wye Group (jointly with the Forest of Dean Group), in consultation with Sustrans, has gained some concessions for walkers on their proposed multi-user path between Chepstow and Brockweir in the Wye Valley.  We do not now want the OS map to show the route as a cycle route as this gives a misleading indication to cyclists that they always have priority whereas some of the concessions we gained specifically gave priority to walkers/wheelchair users etc at certain points.  The same principle applies to paths which have already been created and others which may be in development and for which OS maps have not yet been updated.  Sustrans gain much of their support and financial backing on the basis that these routes will be multi-user paths although they are primarily a cycling organisation.
 
17.       Annual Accounts Publicity – Devon Area
 
This General Council calls upon the Board of Trustees to publish a summary of the Ramblers annual accounts in Walk magazine.
 
Background Notes
The reason for submitting this motion is very simple.  If Areas must publish their accounts why not the organisation nationally?  By doing this in Walk, no extra expense is incurred and other charities do this.