Archived decisions
Contact: Andrew Smith, Ext 6003
1 Summary
The following decision is sought
That the appended draft guidance for prioritising maintenance and enforcement matters on the rights of way network be endorsed by the Executive Member to enable staff time to be deployed in the most efficient way to ensure the greatest benefit for the public subject to the matter being presented to the forthcoming Policy Review Committee for endorsement following which it be issued to Members.
2 Reason
2.1 To enable Rights of Way Officers to manage their time in the most efficient way possible to ensure safe and enjoyable use of the rights of way network by the public.
3 Other Options Considered and Rejected - Not applicable
4 Conflicts of Interest declared by the decision maker or a member or officer consulted - Not applicable
5 Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable
6 Reasons for the matter being dealt with if urgent - Follows consultation with members of the statutory Hampshire Countryside Access Forum and the endorsement of the Forum which was formally expressed at their meeting on February 11th 2004.
Approved by: Date:
Councillor J Waddington
Contact: Andrew Smith, Ext 6003 email: [email protected]
HIGHWAYS ACT 1980 S41 Duty to maintain highways maintainable at public expense (1) The authority who are the for the time being the highway authority for a highway maintainable at public expense are under a duty (...) to maintain the highway. S130 Protection of public rights (1) It is the duty of the highway authority to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment of any highway for which they are the highway authority... |
7 Summary
7.1 The reports seeks the Executive Member's endorsement of the attached guidance. It is intended that this guidance will be used by Area Rights of Way Officers for prioritising reports informing the County Council of matters requiring attention on the rights of way network.
8 Purpose of the Report
8.1 The County Council, as the Highway Authority for the area, has a duty to ensure that public rights of way are available for the use and enjoyment of the public. The most recent Audit Commission Best Value Performance Indicator figure shows that the Hampshire network of public paths is the second best county network in the country. However, owing to people's increasing expectations, as well as the increasing volume of reports received, the Area Rights of Way Officers have to prioritise their time and also assess the importance to be assigned to each of the reports they receive. Attached at Appendix 1 is the proposed guidance to be used by officers when assessing the reports which are received.
8.2 The proposed guidance was developed by the Area Rights of Way Officers and was fully considered and agreed by the Hampshire Countryside Access Forum at their meeting on February 11th 2004. The Hampshire Countryside Access Forum is the statutory Forum tasked with advising the County Council on matters relating to the provision and management of access to the countryside.
8.3 Not every report will fit this guidance and an element of discretion and flexibility on the part of the Area Officer will still be required. It is not indented that those matters which are assigned a low priority will never be investigated. These matters will be attended to whilst the officer is dealing with higher priority issues with the same landowner or in the same area. Alternatively, time will be set aside occasionally to catch up with these lower priority issues as a distinct project.
9 Conclusion
The objective of this guidance is to allow the Area Rights of Way Officers to prioritise their workload and maximise the use of their time. Although it is not intended that low priorities will never be attended to, it is inevitable that these will only be resolved once other priorities allow or when it is convenient to do so whilst attending to other matters.
Recommendation
That the appended draft guidance for prioritising maintenance and enforcement matters on the rights of way network be endorsed by the Executive Member to enable staff time to be deployed in the most efficient way to ensure the greatest benefit for the public subject to the matter being presented to the forthcoming Policy Review Committee for endorsement following which it be issued to Members.
Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers
The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.
Title : None
N.B the list excludes:
1. Published works
2. Documents that disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act