33.1    Apologies for absence were received from Lee Chapman, Stewart Pickering, Nigel Pocock and Andrew Wood

Members are reminded that they must not participate in the discussion or voting on any matter in which they have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and should leave the room prior to the commencement of the debate.

34.1    Mr Weston declared an interest in agenda item 5 as he is a resident of Tong.

34.2    Mrs Motley advised the meeting that she is Chair of Rural Service Network whose work covers a lot of the topics covered by the meeting.

To receive any questions or petitions of which notice has been received from members of the public. Deadline for Questions is 10.00am on 13 October 2020

35.1    There were no public questions

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2020 are attached for confirmation

36.1    The minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2020 had been circulated.

36.2    RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors Strategy Board held on 6 February 2020 be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive a presentation from Representatives of the Bradford Estate

37.1    Members received a presentation from Alexander Newport, Managing Director Bradford Estates, which updated them on plans for a new Garden Community north of the M54 junction 3.  He informed the meeting that the site was proposed for allocation in the Shropshire Local Plan review and that the proposals would provide a sustainable co-location of jobs and homes alongside social infrastructure.  He took the meeting through the proposals explain how they delivered against local, regional and national policy.

37.2    A Member commented that cycling and pedestrian routes should provide for equestrian use as well and asked whether the proposal would allow for this. he was advised that more detailed work needed to be done on this but the estate supported equestrian use through the site and that in addition the Estate was looking at developing managed equestrian access through their in-hand farming land.

37.3    The Culture, Leisure and Tourism Manager welcomed the new greenspace within plans and asked how this would be designed & managed.  She was advised that the Bradford Estate would be involved at all stages and would create local development group which would be involved in the development and management of the open space.

37.4    Following further questions the Chair thanked Alexander for the presentation.

To receive an update from the Culture, Leisure and Tourism Manager.

38.1    Members received an update from the Culture, Leisure and Tourism Manager on the Cultural Strategy.  She advised the meeting that the draft strategy had been taken to a meeting of the Shropshire Council Cabinet where it had been well received and it had been agreed that a public consultation should be carried out.  She added that the consultation was now live and would close on 5 January 2020.

38.2    The Portfolio Holder for Culture and Leisure congratulated Officers on the clarity of the strategy and urged all members to respond to the consultation.

38.3    In response to a question the Culture, Leisure and Tourism Manager confirmed that the Cultural Strategy would feed into the Community and Rural Strategy.

To receive an update from the Interim Outdoor Partnership Manager and the ROW Mapping & Enforcement Manager

39.1    Members received an update from the Interim Outdoor Partnership Manager and the ROW Mapping & Enforcement Manager.

39.2    The Interim Outdoor Partnership Manager advised the meeting that those ROW maintenance officers that had been redeployed to deliver food boxes were now back at work and he was working with them to prioritise work.  He added that the increase in the use of the rights of way network and the countryside sites had brought with it increased littering, damage to surfaces and elements of antisocial behaviour all of which were adding to the workload.  The Interim Outdoor Partnership Manager informed the meeting that additional funding has been gained from the Government Covid Funding and that two additional maintenance officers were being recruited on a six-month contract along with securing additional vehicles to enable socially distanced working practices.

39.3    The ROW Mapping & Enforcement Manager advised that the increase in the use of the ROW network had led to a large increase in the reporting of enforcement issues  along with an increase in the number of claims for rights of way being submitted which had increased the workload considerably.

39.4    The Portfolio Holder advised the meeting that following the issues around respect for the countryside the council was putting together a pack to get the message across around responsible use of the countryside and asked all members to distribute this through their networks.  She thanked all officers for all their work that they had undertaken during the pandemic. 

Members are asked to give a short update on key activities/ priorities/ issues

40.1    Members gave the following updates: -

·         The Chairman informed the meeting that the Agriculture bill was currently “ping ponging” between Commons and Lords to agree the final amendments prior to gaining Royal Assent.  He added that once Royal Assent was gained policy details should become clearer.

·         Mr Carr advised the meeting that organised walking groups were classified as organised sport and groups of up to 30 could take part although in practice groups were limited to 12 to 15 participants.

·         The Culture, Leisure and Tourism Manager advised Members that at the Cabinet meeting held on 5 October, 4 sites, Nesscliffe Country Park, Llanymynech Heritage Area, Poles Coppice and Lyth Hill had been dedicated as Local Nature Reserves.

·         Ms Faulkner advised the meeting that the NFU and the CLA had called for an amendment to the Highways Act to allow temporary diversion rights of way where livestock was in fields for health and safety reasons, and that this would give farmers more flexibility than they currently had.

·         Mr Weston advised that the BHS had withdrawn its objection to the Flaxmills CPO following the protection of the bridleway link.  He added that the BHS continued to make representations in respect of active travel routes in order to include the interests of equestrian users where possible.

Members are advised that meeting of the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors Strategy Board will be held on Thursday 4 February 2021 at 10.00am

41.1    Members were advised that the next meeting of the Shropshire’s Great Outdoors Strategy Board would be held on Thursday 4 February 2021 at 10.00am