Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Douglas Deacon.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no urgent business.

There were no items from the public.

There were no items from councillors or co-opted members.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 8 October 2014 and 30 July 2015.

The minutes of the meetings held on 8 October 2014 and 30 July 2015 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Committee is asked to consider whether Bath and North East Somerset Council (“the Authority”) should make a public path creation order under section 26 of the Highways Act 1980 to create a public bridleway running from Newlands Road to Greenfield Road in Keynsham.

The Chair invited Graeme Stark (Principal Officer – Public Rights of Way) to introduce the item.

Graeme Stark informed the Committee that the issue under consideration was a proposal to upgrade the current public footpath to a bridleway.  This would permit cycling between points A and E shown on the plan attached as Appendix 1 to the report.  The bridleway would provide a link between the new The Meadows/K2 development and the existing residential neighbourhood, including Castle Primary School, Keynsham.  There were two main advantages of the proposal:

·  Cycling along this route would be lawful.

·  The route would be widened to avoid potential conflict between different user groups.

Officers were satisfied that the legislative tests for the creation of a bridleway had been met and that it had been demonstrated that there is a need for a right of way in the area.

Two objections and representations had been received, one from a local ward councillor and one from a member of the public.  The objections referred primarily to health and safety concerns relating to cyclists and pedestrians.

The Committee then debated the issue and, whilst they understood the concerns of the objectors, members felt that the proposal was a positive one which would benefit local residents.  Members stated that the widening of the path would address concerns relating to potential conflict between cyclists and pedestrians.  A bridleway would offer a safe route for younger children to cycle to school.  On balance members felt that the benefits of the proposal outweighed any potential disadvantages. 

On motion from Cllr Geoff Ward, seconded by Cllr David Veale it was unanimously RESOLVED to support the officer’s recommendation to grant authorisation for a Public Path Creation Order to be made to create a new public bridleway between Newlands Road and Greenfield Road, Keynsham as detailed on the plan attached as Appendix 1 to the report (“the Decision Plan”) and in the schedule attached as Appendix 2 to the report (“the Decision Schedule”).