Charlotte Gilbert was acting Chair until the election of a new Chair of the Forum had been completed.

Mike Rhodes welcomed the Forum Members and noted that there were a number of apologies.  These were: Joe Dalton, Clare Griffin, Alastair Harvey, Geoff Nickolds, Ben Seal, Cllr Susan Hobson and Cllr Ian Huddlestone. Gill Millward was also unable to attend due to illness.

Steve Martin has resigned from the Forum.

Despite the fact that we have four new Members joining us today, Mike also noted that there were still several vacancies on the Forum which it was hoped would soon be filled.

The minutes of the meeting on 9 December 2021 were approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising:

Page 3 – Tim Nicholson was unable to attend the meeting on 17 March but would be present at the next meeting on 16 June to update the Forum on the Sustainable Transport Initiatives.

Page 5 – The Business Case review was complete but not yet a public document.  A restructuring of the Peak District National Park Authority Engagement Service was expected but no information about what that would mean for the Rights of Way team was available.

Four new Members joined the Forum at this meeting:  Craig Best, Jo Holiday, Charlotte Leech and John Towe.  The Members of the Forum introduced themselves with a brief summary of their work and interests.

The Forum were asked to consider the nominations for the position of Chair and Vice-Chair as set out in the report.

The Forum supported the proposals and the following were appointed:

Chair – Louise Hawson

Joint Vice-chair – Charlotte Gilbert & Martin Bennett

The New Chair thanked the members for supporting her and particularly grateful that her nomination had been supported by John Thompson.

Richard Lovell,  Senior Project Officer, Sustainable Travel, Derbyshire County Council attended the meeting to provide clarification on the role of the Team and the areas they covered.  There were four specific areas:

1.    Travel Planning – the original focus of the team in 2011 was on travel planning for schools and workplaces, but has expanded  to include local communities such as the Buxton Town Team on developing a town wide travel plan which had recently been out for consultation and would possibly be used as a model for other communities, along with the Hope Valley Climate Action Group’s Travelling Light Programme.

2.    Walking and Cycling – focus on delivering a county wide network of strategic local routes (which will cater for horse riders wherever possible).  Key priorities include the Pennine Bridleway and White Peak Loop (due to be completed by 2025).  Feasibility studies underway for White Peak Loop around Buxton and Derwent Valley Cycleway which includes Derby to Chatsworth. The aim was to continue to develop a Key Cycle Network (KCN) with local connections to provide off road routes for safer cycling. Work is ongoing in relation to e-bikes which provide a solution to the issues around the landscape of the Peak District, as well as public transport interchanges and their links to the cycle network. Richard suggested returning to the Forum when these pieces of work are completed to present findings.

3.    Low emission vehicle infrastructure – DCC have set a target of 1,000 public facing electric vehicle charging points across the county by 2025.  The phasing out of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 is putting pressure on the work.  A feasibility report has just been completed in draft form to outline where the demand will be required. Additional challenges were acknowledged in rural areas where supply of power may not be suitable. Additional officer resources had been approved for the team to work on this area.

4.    Low Carbon Mobility – with a particular focus on transport mobility hubs. The train stations at Buxton and Hope were part of a study which looked at the possibility of catering for the needs of the community and visitors using electric vehicles, additional resources were being sort to support the team on this work.  The Bus Service Improvement Programme was closely linked to this work.  The plan had been submitted to the  Department for Transport (DfT) in October 2021 and this had had a favourable response. The plan included mobility hubs which will be funded from the money received from the DfT.

Members of the Forum asked questions regarding Peak Resort, work on Pennine Bridleway, improvements to mountain bike trials, provision of facilities for cyclists and improvements to routes.

Charlotte Gilbert presented information on the history and current status of the Pack Horse Routes and highlighted the importance of maintaining the surfaces of the routes with appropriate materials.  Also the education of children to use the routes in a safe way.  Members of the Forum raised the question regarding the routes being given  UNESCO status but this was not something the Forum would be able to pursue.

The Access and Rights of Way officer, Sue Smith introduced the report  and annual action plans.  Members of the Forum were notified  that a Sub Group meeting would be arranged shortly to provide comment on the proposed repairs by Derbyshire County Council set out in Appendix 5.1.

The report included details of the consultation on the Landscape Review and Forum members were asked whether they wished to make comments.

The Access and Rights of Way officer, Sue Smith reported on the Access Sub Group Meeting held in February to consider Derbyshire County Council’s proposed works on the Pennine Way at Edale and the Forum’s wish list for access works under the Farming in Protected Landscapes Scheme.

Members considered that a visit to the Pennine Way was usefu and the letter covered the concerns raised.

The Forum discussed the issue of the restrictions around the Silence & Old Grove mines including the possible cost of reinstatement and permanent closure of some of the access routes in the eventuality of this not being possible.

Members requested that more information about the work being carried out was shared publicly to ensure the message is more widely available.

LAF Supported the proposal to continue the closures for a further year with a short letter summarising the concerns raised.

Any further questions could be sent to Sue by email.

As Gill Millward was unable to attend the meeting Mike Rhodes introduced the report and highlighted some of the updates it provided including:

·         The proposed removal of the 2026 deadline for Rights of Way claims.

·         The continued work installing/replacing roadside signage across the Rights of Way Network by DCC.  A link can be found on the DCC Website which illustrates which signs are to be provided.

Forum Members suggested a letter of thanks to the County Council relating to the work they are carrying out may be appropriate and a draft would be drawn up.

The reported was noted and thanks sent to Gill.

The Chair introduced the item regarding the  response of the LAF to the report and asked members of the Forum to draft parts of the response and circulate by email. The Chair and Vice Chairs would lead on the preparation of the response and call on other members as needed.     

Mike introduced the draft report and asked members to contact him with any comments before the end of March.

Charlotte Gilbert updated the Forum on the work ongoing in relation to the Peak District National Park Management Plan.  The plan was due for publication in 2023 and Charlotte will continue to update the Forum on the progress.

It was noted that a new Trails Manager had been appointed, Helen Carrington.  Helen will be invited to attend a future meeting of the Forum.

Jez Kenyon provided an update on” Path Watch” which was a standard way of reporting pathways which required work to repair them.  The group was looking at ways to grade footpaths and hoped that this would help progress improvements. Plans to include bridleways in future work were highlighted.

There was no other business.