Agenda item

The Senior Officer, People, Landscapes, Access and Nature to attend, to provide a verbal update to Members.

Members to consider and appoint a replacement representative for future stakeholder group meetings following the resignation of David Lepper.

Bruce Cutts, Senior Officer, People Landscapes Access and Nature, Natural England joined the meeting via MS Teams to provide an update on progress on the Coast to Coast Path National Trail.

Members heard that as part of the Wider Benefits workstream officers had produced a Sustainable Engagement report and an Accessibility Audit, and these would be shared with external parties in due course.  Work was also ongoing around engaging with communities and businesses; however, this strand of work was subject to budget discussions.  

Mr Cutts outlined the work that was currently underway to build baseline data to quantify the number of users on the Coast to Coast Trail.  There were a number of people counters out on the route, and with the aid of DEFRA colleagues, officers were looking at mobile phone data mainly through Strava and some passive GPS data, this focused on where people were on the trail and how they were using it.  In addition to this, officers were conducting face to face interviews on the route and self-registration surveys were available for users.

Members were informed that another element of the Wider Benefit project was the Nature Recovery project which would enhance the users experience while walking on the Coast to Coast.  There were several of these projects to include:

·       The B-Line project, a network of flower-rich insect superhighways designed to reconnect landscapes, enabling pollinators and other wildlife to move freely.

·       The Eden Rivers Trust, Grisedale Beck follows the line of the Coast to Coast path and since 2021 the Trust has worked to re-meander a lower section of Grisedale Beck, creating a second channel and new wetland habitat whilst slowing the progress of surface water into the village of Patterdale below.

·       Foresty England had felled and thinned over 2.1 ha at Gillerthwaite Longhouses, this had opened the Trail corridor and created greater visibility of the twin walled longhouses as well as glimpses of mountains and valley floors.

·       West Cumbria Rivers Trust had focussed on the preservation and protection of salmon and other freshwater fish species, with a series of surveys planned to record past and present areas of their complex lifecycle.

·       Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Cycle had concentrated their efforts on sustainable visits to some of their reserves by providing bicycle hoops for up to 8 bikes, installed near the entrance to encourage responsible use of the reserve.

Members were shown photographs of some of the works the technical working group had undertaken which included the building of new footbridges and erecting waymarking finger posts. 

Finally, Mr Cutts provided the latest update, on behalf of DEFRA colleagues, on the work being done to develop a safe solution to the Coast to Coast, A19 crossing.  A business case was being developed for the A19 project, a technical construction report had been produced and the options had been through an initial assessment.  Defra were preparing to conduct stakeholder engagement on the options being explored and would look to engage with as many stakeholders as possible to gather views from individuals and groups who may be affected.  Members were informed that the LAF’s input would be sought on the A19 project.

Rachel Connolly thanked Mr Cutts for an excellent presentation, and queried, one of the photographs within the presentation had shown a detour on the A19, was the alternative route intended to be for multi-user or just for pedestrians.  Mr Cutts advised that the temporary route had been made by the adoption of existing network paths, it focused very much on pedestrian access where it was a public footpath.  There were no plans to make the path multi-user as it was a short time diversion and there were alternative routes, although mainly by road.

It was highlighted that one of the principles of the LAF was that all new access should be for the highest possible use by everybody, Mr Cutts agreed that this was a principle that Natural England followed, however this was not a new access, it was the adoption of an existing network path to provide a functional way around to avoid the A19 at this stage.

The matter of a representative from the LAF to attend future Coast to Coast Path National Trail External Stakeholder Group meetings and receive one-to-one updates from an officer from Natural England, following the resignation of David Lepper was raised.  Mr Cutts explained that the meeting took place once a quarter and was an opportunity for stakeholders to contribute on how the route was being developed; that Member could then cascade a summary of the information learned down to the Forum as a whole.  Members discussed the role and appointed Martin Reynolds as the LAF representative to attend future Coast to Coast National Trail External Stakeholder Group meetings.

The Chair thanked Mr Cutts for attending.

Resolved – That

i.                The update be noted.

ii.              Martin Reynolds be appointed to attend future Coast to Coast National Trail External Stakeholder Group meetings on behalf of the LAF.