Yeohead & Castleton Parish Council

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-> Oliver Letwin MP

Yeohead & Castleton Parish Council

Report On Meeting At Poyntington Village Hall

27^th July 2005 At 4.30 P.M.

Meeting with Rt. Hon. Dr. Oliver Letwin M.P. concerning the application by the Trailriders Federation to reclassify paths between Poyntington and Milborne Wick as Byways Open to all Traffic.

Chairman: Mr J. C. C. Mason, Chairman of the Parish Council.

The meeting was attended by some 40 members of the public. The purpose of the meeting was to learn about the circumstances that gave rise to the application to Somerset County Council and what steps could be taken to ensure the application was unsuccessful.

The first part of the meeting was for a range of representatives of local organisations with a particular interest in the matter to explain their position and their actions to date to the meeting. These speakers included Cllr Mrs Oliver who explained the current position and showed the location of the paths involved on a map of the area. Other speakers included the Footpaths Officer for Poyntington, representatives of the local horse riding interests, an immediate neighbour of the access road from Poyntington to the paths, the chairman of the Poyntington Parish Meeting, Cllr Mrs Douglas from Milborne Port Parish Council and representatives of the Dorset branch of CPRE.

Among the points raised by these speakers were the likelihood of serious accidents, not only to young and inexperienced horse riders, but also pedestrians and even motor cycle riders; this point was coupled with evidence of the difficulty the emergency services often had in reaching injured people on the paths. Further points included questions of insurance cover in the event of injury or damage caused by an uninsured rider, the possible costs to local people in making good any damage, and for the reclassification of roads such as Pub Lane as Restricted Byways.

The parish clerk was also asked to raise with Dorset County Council the matter of why the “No Through Road” sign that used to be at the bottom of Pub Lane had been moved to Queen Street, and whether this meant that the original classification was no longer valid.

Dr. Letwin then spoke and explained the full background to the current situation that had given rise to the enormous number of applications to convert RUPP’s into BOAT’s throughout the country (some 500-600 apparently) by organisations that are well funded and with support by a strong legal team. Apparently Somerset is the county with the most applications.

Dr Letwin felt that the situation was an unfortunate consequence of legislation that was initiated from the best of intentions, and that the most hopeful possibility at the moment was to hope that the Bill currently working its way through Parliament could be effectively amended. Dr Letwin plans to table amendments to the Bill that would give County Councils the explicit power to impose a Traffic Regulation Order on a BOAT which is not used as access to a home by anybody (the situation that applies in our case.) This amendment, if accepted, would have the effect of clarifying and making explicit a power that already exists but is not completely clear and therefore could be challenged in the courts.

In the regrettable event that the government doesn’t accept the amendment and uses its parliamentary majority to force through the Bill, then Dr Letwin outlined certain local actions that could be taken.

After emphasising that under current law Somerset County Council may not take into account environmental and similar issues, Dr Letwin observed that it could take into account certain other points:

1. Can it be proved the paths were never used by carriages or carts at any time in the past? This would involve considerable research at the Somerset Archives in Taunton.
2. If the paths had been so used, can it be shown that carts have at any stage been prevented by judicious design of gates from using the path? (This would be a matter of gates etc. having been built and remained unchallenged for a reasonable period of time. E.g. a recent structure would not assist the case.)
3. It would be relevant if proof existed of how the routes has been used in the recent past (say 50 years or more) and showed that vehicles had not used them.

There were, further, certain delaying tactics that could be used by the parish council and the local community. The purpose would be to persuade Somerset County Councillors not to make any quick decisions. These included demanding site visits, allowing time for local people to conduct proper research in the archives, and referring to the current Parliamentary procedures and plans.

In the questions session that followed various points were addressed. If paths were damaged in the future, there is, unfortunately, no highways authority with the power and funding to repair and maintain them.

Dr Letwin felt that, at a later stage in the Parliamentary proceedings, it might be helpful if affected national organisations such as the Ramblers Association and RSPB organised letter campaigns to the minister, Mr Jim Knight, M.P. (for South Dorset, incidentally). This campaign could also be supported by individual letters from residents to Mr Knight. In the meantime it might be helpful if the parish council also wrote to Mr Knight explaining the local concerns and recommending the proposed amendments which should be considered for their value in resolving an unfortunate situation rather than as party political point scoring.

Policing Traffic Regulation Orders would be very difficult, but the situation would be no different from that which currently pertains.

Please contact us at:-

Mike Fraser, The Parish Clerk, Church Farm Cottage, Oborne, Dorset, DT9 4JY

Tel: 01935 816537

Email: michael.fraser1@btinternet.com

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