Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Philip Hackett, British Horse Society Access Field Officer South West, to the meeting.
Mr Hackett expressed the need for trails in the County to be opened up retrospectively for horses as soon as possible to get horses off-road. Sustrans policy was to remove barriers to multi-use. The multi-use trail in Cornwall, the Camel Trail, was successful and used by 400,000 visitors a year. He was particularly interested in access on the Tarka Trail from Bideford to Fremington Quay and Torrington. There was evidence of rider use but riders would like to use the route legitimately and would avoid busy times. His view was that this would save lives and money and create benefits for tourism and the economy.
It was noted the British Horse Society’s ‘Dead Slow’ campaign had been supported by Devon County Council’s Cabinet, following a motion by Cllr Hannaford.
Mr Hackett asked whether the Devon Countryside Access Forum could examine the DCC policy of multi-use and urge the Council to conform to its own policy on multi-use and give retrospective rights? He had lobbied the Leader of Devon County Council, Cllr Hart, on this point when he attended Torridge District Council’s Area Advisory Group Meeting in December.
Ros Mills, Public Rights of Way Manager, explained that the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 established both local access forums and rights of way improvement plans. The DCC Rights of Way Improvement Plan was revised in 2012 and linked to the Devon Transport Plan. In this context, all vulnerable users, including horse riders, were considered in the use of new multi-use trails. The Forum did a lot of initial work in assisting with this. The audit trail required an examination of design, safety, connectivity and other factors. As a result, horse riders were permitted on the new Wray Valley Trail. The aspiration in the long term would be to look at existing routes.
It was noted that there are other potential new users of routes, such as electric bikes and scooters.
In answer to a question about horse poo, Mr Hackett said that this degraded quickly.
Whilst there was no issue in principle, members recognised there were practical limits in certain places. There were responsibilities on all users to recognise implications for others.
It was noted that there were some locations where landowners had granted permissive use but excluded horse riders.
Whilst the British Horse Society and Pony Clubs offer proficiency tests, Mr Hackett thought it an unwise move to insist on these to ride trails as cyclists did not have to do so.
Information was requested on the length of trails in the County where horses were not permitted and how many new routes did not permit horses.
It was noted that more women ride, and that it may be a gender equality issue that needed to be considered.
Whilst multi-use was the preferred option, it was agreed that retrospective use was slower and more problematic to achieve. When asked whether the BHS could identify quick wins, Mr Hackett said it had to be across the board to achieve progress. A safety audit would identify any issues such as parapet heights, visibility and other constraints.
Ros Mills, Public Rights of Way Manager affirmed that many trails used public roads and legally defined bridleways which were historic and statutory routes and there was no say in the design. When new routes are built there was a design and safety audit. The development of routes was a very slow process requiring landowner agreement and funding. It was confirmed that no routes are owned or managed by Sustrans in Devon but they were built and designed by DCC to Sustrans, Department for Transport and other professional standards. Sustrans volunteers were helpful in looking after routes. It would be possible to use Sustrans risk assessments and DCC risk assessments on legacy routes plus the Forum’s best practice. With the Camel Trail, Cornwall Council owned all the land and could make decisions.
Ros Mills said many of the legacy routes had caveats and agreements and looking into those would be part of any review. This was why a blanket approach was not possible. Routes also had to meet current standards. Whilst welcoming the involvement of the BHS on safety audits, Ros Mills, Public Rights of Way Manager, said that unfortunately the team did not have the time or resources to dedicate an officer to assist with this process at the current time.
Although bylaws could be put on the off-road trail network, the Council currently would not wish to do this.
It was noted the disabled ramblers’ was going through a similar process and securing piecemeal improvements over time, despite the principle of accessibility.
Ros Mills, PROW Manager, said further information on horse incident statistics on roads had been presented to Devon County Council’s Cabinet meeting earlier in January. She confirmed the unclassified, unsurfaced county road network (uUCR), and connectivity between parishes in the context of a review of off-road trails, would be tied into the DCC carbon plan.
The DCAF agreed to write to reinforce its position on multi-use trails and the RoWIP policy, the importance of funding to look at these routes retrospectively, and how people valued outdoor space during lockdown. Equality and aspirations for zero carbon were additional considerations.
Action: Forum officer to send round draft for approval.