Upper Beeding Parish Council having agreed last week to recommend the Chanctonbury County Local Committee to use of some of the planning development contributions related to transport towards the cost of upgrading the existing Footpath Right of Way to a bridleway for the above cycleway, I learned today (11th) that the landowner of the Footpath route from its junction with the Downs Link to its junction with New Hall Lane would object to such a proposal.

Since it would appear that there is no alternative route which meets the health, safety and security concerns of landowners, it looks as though, unless local people have any other ideas, the scheme is dead. Although there is the fallback of an on-road footway this would be much less safe and considerably more expensive, which would probably defer any such scheme for very many years.

I am very sorry about this as many people have taken the trouble to express their support for such a cycle route which would enable the development of bridleways either side of the Downs Link, towards building a network of cycle and equestrian routes between the small towns and villages of the Adur Valley.

I thank all those local people for their support for this idea.

The Parish Council at last night’s meeting agreed to my suggestion that the Chanctonbury County local Committee should be recommended to use some planning development contributions related to transport schemes for the possible cycle route from Small Dole to Henfield.

Although the possible route is entirely in Henfield Parish the cycle route would be of particular benefit to Small Dole residents who live in Upper Beeding Parish.

It was also good news in this regard to learn at the Countryside Access Forum for West Sussex last week that the County Council’s Corporate Plan for 2009/10 provides for an increase in the number of Rights of Way for walkers and cyclists.

I will be supporting the Parish Council’s recommendation at the next meeting of the Chanctonbury County Local Committee on 2 December in Partridge Green.

This consultation exercise was closed on 14 August.

It was confirmed at the Countryside Access Forum for West Sussex that the outcome will be reviewed in due course by the Forum’s Off -Road Working Group.

The path closure is necessary to protect public safety whilst improvement works are being undertaken on the bridleway.

Unfortunately this link route using the South Downs Way east of the River Adur, from St Botolph’s bridge using bridleway 3209 to the A283 will continue to be unavailable for another 21 days from the 28TH OCTOBER 2008. The footpath and bridleway along either side of the River Adur and St Botolphs bridge will remain open for pedestrians and equestrians.

Should you have any queries regarding the closure please contact Becky Lawton, Rights of way Officer  on 01273 777928 or if you have a query about the effect of the notice on persons using the highway, to Jon Perks on 01243 777621.

The West Sussex Principal Rights of Way Officer has welcomed the idea of providing a bridleway from Small Dole to join the Downs Link to enable horses and cyclists to use the route between Small Dole and Henfield.

At the meeting it was confirmed that it would be difficult to upgrade the footpath along New Hall Lane where the landowner objects to the idea, but it is possible that an alternative route may be made available.

The Rights of Way staff will now investigate the full land ownership of the possible route. The part of the route near the river will require substantial works to enable it to be used by cycles and so the works will need to be designed and funding found.

It is clear that a number of problems remain to be resolved if this cycleway is to be achieved and I will report back on the situation as more information is available.

Under the title “Working together for a better future” West Sussex County Council adopted its Sustainable Community Strategy for West Sussex 2008 – 2020 at its meeting on October 10^th.

Deputy Leader Dr James Walsh said “ This paper is purely aspirational; it is all words with no promises of specific actions especially on solar heating, energy conservation, and water recycling.  We have had 20-30 years of plans and more plans.  What we need is real action”

Dr Nigel Dennis, Lib Dem spokesman for Highways and Transport, commented: “Cycle expenditure by West Sussex County Council is half the national average and the cycle network is little more than a series of short, disconnected routes, poorly used.”

He added:

“if we are to get people to cut down on car use we must have better integration of public transport services.  Bus timings must link up with trains and we need better through ticketing and more Travelcard schemes.”

We have had strategies for footpaths, cycleways and public transport - and no action. There is a particular need for these extra services in the Bramber Castle area and it is about time we saw some action on this from the County Council!

Steyning Parish Council Highways & Lighting Committee last night agreed to support my campaign on behalf of local residents for urgent action by the County Council to improve pedestrian safety on this access road. The action to install bollards on the exit side of the road is necessary to prevent vehicles using the pavement and putting children at risk when there is traffic congestion.

There was also a suggestion that in the longer term, parking on both sides of the road could be restricted, with parking banned between say 8 and 9am and 3 and 4pm so that the full width of the road would be available at peak times (my only concern about this is that it might lead to higher traffic speeds, but may be road humps could be introduced to stop that). Clearly if a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for this idea was supported by the County and local residents it would then make it possible to remove the proposed bollards on the exit  side of the road if a TRO was implemented.

Having submitted the results of the public consultation on this possible cycleway from Small Dole to Henfield to County Hall  for comments, a meeting has now been agreed with the Principal Rights of Way Officer at County Hall on 13 October to discuss the possible ways forward to progress the scheme. The possible route was supported by a majority of local residents.

I will report back on the outcome following the meeting.

Following many complaints about the former site in Smugglers Lane, a public meeting was held involving leading parish councillors, the police, PCSO and wardens. Despite some success in convincing people that the young people were not a group of anti-social youths, a few local people disagreed and scattered dog excrement and broken glass over the site, ending any chances of it being used again.

Whilst it is understood that there were some issues of noise, the young people had taken the complaints on board and were behaving. It is very sad that a few adults responded by ruining the site, and leading parish councillors want to make up for it by providing a suitable site.

Unfortunately the current proposal for a site accessed off The Bostal is not suitable. It would be on a site half way up The Bostal, past the reservoir, and left through a gate of sorts for pedestrians and horse riders along a marked bridleway. It is an SSSI, part of the current AONB and likely to be in the South Downs National Park.

Although it is understood that the young people only want to be able to dig a few jumps and ride their bikes, as they did in Smugglers Lane, and there is no proposal for an official BMX park at this stage; with the growth of the sport now it is an Olympic success this could well change. In addition there are other concerns that would need to be addressed: - unsupervised youngsters crossing main roads, the conservation status of the land and legal requirements arising, the needs of other users, accessibility in the event of an accident and the safety of the young people using the site.

Another complication is that there is a proposal to change the status of The Bostal to a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT), and this is due to be considered by the Planning Inspectorate in January 2009. Even if this is approved the primary users of BOATs are intended to be walkers and horses, with only secondary/occasional use by vehicles. How can public access to a BMX track be compatible with that? The number of horse-riders daily using The Bostal has increased dramatically in the last year or so. There is a clear possibility of conflict between them and all the people going to and from a BMX meeting. Finally this proposal might pre-empt consideration of a Traffic Regulation Order to ban vehicles from The Bostal, which is still one of the preferred options of the local opponents to the BOAT bid.

Clearly for the reasons highlighted The Bostal site is not acceptable, but another site needs to be identified which would be a suitable replacement for Smugglers Lane and capable for further development to a full BMX track should it be a success. Constructive suggestions which I can pass to the Parish Council would be appreciated.  

The Forum (CAFWS) aims to improve countryside access for all across the county. It is an independent, advisory body operating on a statutory basis.CAFWS was established in 2003 as required by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW Act), which placed a duty on each County Council, Unitary Authority and National Park to set up a Local Access Forum (in West Sussex this is CAFWS).

There was an excellent Forum Workshop at Haywards Heath on 2 July about the West Sussex Rights of Way Improvement Plan. The Plan was prepared last year but, although required by Government, no extra government funding has been provided to enable the Plan to be implemented.

The Workshop discussed ways in which CAFWS members could influence various bodies such as County, District and Parish Councils to assist in implementing the priority parts of the Plan. I made a strong plea to give the improvement of the Downs Link a priority, with more links to local communities such as Small Dole for cyclists. Ways to achieve this were discussed, including greater involvement of Parish Councils along the Downs Link route.

I have added a website link to the CAFWS website for people to keep up to date with it’s activities and progress on the Rights of Way Improvement Plan.