ITEM 1

MINUTES of a meeting of the YATELEY COMMON MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE held in Rose Rent Room, The Tythings, Reading Road, Yateley on 18 February, 2003

PRESENT:

Hampshire County Council

Councillors: A.P. Collett; J. Glen; J.W. Stocks.

Yateley Town Council

Councillors: D.T. Benham; E.J. Dawson.

Observers

Mr. P.J. Tipton.

The following officers were in attendance:

Mr. J. Tickle, Head of the Countryside Service

Mr. A. Davidson, Sites Manager North.

Mr. A.R. Knight, Chief Executive's Department
Mr. N.K. Hetherrington - Senior Ranger, Yateley Common

Miss A. Saunders, Yateley Town Council.

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COUNCILLOR A.P. COLLETT, VICE-CHAIRMAN IN THE CHAIR

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28 MINUTES

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 June, 2002 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

29 NOTES

The Notes of the inquorate meeting held on 22 October, 2002 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

30 YATELEY COMMON SITE MANAGER'S REPORT - OCTOBER, 2002 TO FEBRUARY, 2003

The Committee considered the report of the Site Manager, Yateley Common outlining work undertaken since the last meeting (Item 4 in the Minute Book).

The Site Manager introduced Nicki Hetherington, who had been appointed Senior Ranger and reported the appointment of Vicky Booth as Yateley Countryside Ranger.

Tree felling for the final year of the current Countryside Stewardship agreement was underway and 5.5 hectares of scrub had been cleared.

Measures were to be taken to resolve the problems caused by motorcycles resorting to the Bridleway at Cricket Hill. The 1967 Byelaws were to be reviewed. The current Byelaws were to be displayed shortly as an interim measure.

Members requested a timetable of dates for action and a report back to the next meeting. The Director of Recreation and Heritage had been provided with copies of DEFRA's model byelaws and was to carry out an audit of Country Parks; which of them had byelaws and which needed byelaws to be updated. The Chief Executive was to establish which byelaw making power could be exercised for use on Yateley Common.

The review of Rights of Way on part of Yateley Common was progressing. The review maps had been circulated to Members as requested at the last meeting. After approval of changes, it would be possible to repair the footpaths to avoid further damage by horses. Once they had been approved by the Committee, the proposals would be open to consultations and approval by the Regulatory Committee.

The area around Stroods Pool would be cleared of scrub to deter fly-tipping. Sims metal had been given approval to remove contaminated silt in the stream. This would be carried out according to Environment Agency criteria and to the satisfaction of the County Council.

Mr. Tickle assured Members that the necessary permissions had been given by environmental protection agencies for the removal of contaminated waste and the site left in good heart.

The Countryside Stewardship scheme was to end shortly and application made for the next year for a renewal which would run for 9 years.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

31 VEHICULAR ACCESS OVER COUNTY COUNCIL OWNED COMMON LAND

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services (Head of Estates Practice) (Item 5 in the Minute Book) regarding vehicular access to County Council owned common land.

The County Council had sought to regularise the rights of vehicular access over Council owned common land and village green by adopting the following:

(a) Grant of Statutory Easements in qualifying cases; and


(b) Negotiated Deeds of Grant in all other cases.


Members requested confirmation regarding access over common land for new owners of properties.

Mr. Tipton was to write to the County Council regarding the "time-trap", whereby persons seeking to establish rights across common land might be required to do so by July, 2003. He was to seek advice of how applications would be processed after that date and would e-mail the Council a copy of a recent legal article on the subject.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

32 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Tuesday 17 June, 2003 at 7.00 p.m. at The Rose Rent Room, The Tythings, Reading Road, Yateley.

NB: It was anticipated that a tour of the Common would be arranged for 2 weeks after the June meeting.

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