Secretary’s Update Report

1.0 Purpose of the Report

1.1 To update members of the Local Access Forum on developments since the last meeting of NYLAF.

2.0 Local Development Plans

2.1 One of the key areas of involvement for the Forum is to ensure appropriate engagement in the preparation of Local Development Plans. Set out in the table below is a summary of the current position in relation to the new Council, and in relation to the Minerals and Waste Joint Plan.

Authority

Status

North Yorkshire Council

The development plan, made up of local plan and neighbourhood plan policies, is at the heart of the planning system. Legally, decisions on planning applications and other development proposals must be considered against this plan, together with other material considerations such as national planning guidance, supplementary planning documents and development briefs.

North Yorkshire Council is required to prepare and adopt a new local plan by 1 April 2028, which will replace the existing local plans of the former councils. The new local plan will form part of the development plan for the areas of North Yorkshire not covered by the two national park authorities. Until it is adopted, existing plans and policies listed in the consolidated planning policy framework will apply. For further information see: Consolidated planning policy framework and schedule of evidence | North Yorkshire Council

Minerals and

Waste Joint

Plan

North Yorkshire County Council adopted the Minerals and Waste Joint Plan at a Full Council meeting in February 2022. An adoption statement (pdf / 436 KB) was issued under Regulations 26 and 35 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) and the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (as amended). The North York Moors National Park Authority adopted the Minerals and Waste Joint Plan in March 2022 and the City of York Council adopted the Minerals and Waste Joint Plan in April 2022.

The Adopted Minerals and Waste Joint Plan and accompanying documents can be viewed in the Examination Library at: Minerals and waste joint plan examination | North Yorkshire Council,

These documents replaced the 'saved' policies in the North Yorkshire County Council Minerals Local Plan 1997 and 'saved' policies in the North Yorkshire County Council Waste Local Plan 2006. The adopted documents are available to view via the link above.

3.0 Sustrans Update

3.1       At the end of 2023 Sustrans were waiting to find out from Active Travel England (ATE) whether they had been allocated funding for projects in 2024. There were two possible projects in Yorkshire that could be included in a 2024 programme, namely a Quiet Lane project in East Riding and a canal project in Bradford.

3.2       They have been looking at the potential for Quiet Lanes on the National Cycle Network (NCN) across Yorkshire and have undertaken some initial designs in East Riding and North Yorkshire.  They are hoping that the new Active Travel England rural design guide will provide guidance to inform their designs but the ATE design guide has been delayed until after the next general election.

3.3       Sustrans have recently met with the British Horse Society to discuss NCN and queried whether the Network Development Plan for the NCN was available to view on-line.  It was confirmed there were no on-line maps at the moment, but the intention was that they would be introduced in Spring 2024.

3.4       Forum members have previously discussed inviting a Sustrans representative to a future Forum meeting.  Members are asked to consider this when considering the draft Forward Plan for the coming municipal year shown elsewhere on this agenda.

4.0 The Coast to Coast Route

4.1 At the last Regional Forum meeting there was confusion about whether the official Coast to Coast route would follow the line for walkers originally proposed by Natural England - roughly along the "Wainright" line or on a new line currently being plotted to include cyclist and horse riders.

4.2 Andrew Mackintosh (NE) has recently confirmed that Natural England will be delivering on the Defra instructions to confirm as far a possible the existing walked line of the coast to coast. They are also working closely with Cycling UK and BHS to identify where they can help deliver a riders route that shares the main nodes (overnight stops). The riders route is a longer term project that will complement the Coast to Coast National Trail. They are helping Cycling UK and BHS to work with highway authorities and National Park Authorities to explore some of the opportunities to help facilitate this riders route’.

4.3 A further update on the Coast to Coast Route has been suggested for the Forum’s meeting in September 2024 (see draft Forward Plan included in this agenda). This could be brought forward to the May meeting if members would prefer.

Environmental Land Management Scheme Update

4.1 It was not possible to arrange the attendance of a Natural England representative at the meeting, so this has been deferred to the next meeting of the Forum on 22 May 2024. However Natural England did provide a written update on ELMs for the last meeting of the Regional Forum in which they confirmed the following:

· Natural England For the Landscape Recovery tier public access improvements are a secondary objective but will be a scored component of applications. Natural England will look for planned and justified accessibility improvements, access management measures, new infrastructure etc. which will complement the wider agreement objectives and enhance local access.

· Countryside Stewardship Plus - The reintroduction of permissive access options are being considered by Defra for this element of ELMS and that we Natural England are continuing to advise them re targeting, value for money, guidance, option drafting etc. However, a final decision is yet to be made by ministers on its inclusion which is expected in Autumn.

· Permissive Access Survey – The Survey commissioned in 2022 to find out what happened to routes once agreements ended and reasons for closing/keeping open etc. has been completed, but the Defra publications process has yet to run its course. When it’s published a link will be posted for LAFs on the Stewardship Plus site and probably via email. There are also some other interesting research reports pending re access and engagement which will also be signposted in due course.

5.0 Discretionary Restriction Notices

5.1 There have been no notifications received of discretionary ‘28 day’ restrictions under Section 22 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, and no withdrawals of a discretionary restriction under Section 22 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, since the last Forum meeting.