7 Council Reports Myland Access Committee I recently took the opportunity to re-read some of the many hundreds of articles that had been written over the last twenty or so years. Articles about footpaths, bridleways, cycling, and local bus services; planning policy and decisions; litter picks and regular monthly walks; the Boxing Day Walks, Jane’s Walks; signposts and the Definitive Map and Statement; Local Transport Notes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and our hopes for a new bridge over the A12! One of the highlights for me was the creation of a Public Right of Way along Tower Lane’. It was in 2011 that Essex County Council declared it was a Public Footpath and about 5 years later it was upgraded to a Bridleway! This process took several years starting with Myland Parish Council organising a dozen volunteers to sign an affidavit saying that they had walked along Tower Lane, “without let or hindrance”, at some stage during the previous twenty years, and finishing with Essex County Council writing a large report containing many old title maps to show that it had in fact always been a Public Right of Way and would be added to the Definitive Map of Public Rights of Way in Essex. On a more controversial note, the creation of many “shared footway/cycleway” routes, gave us, (and Colchester Cycling Campaign), much cause for concern. At the time - 2012, central government advised that such routes, whilst not absolutely forbidden, were not recommended, saying that many such schemes created problems for both pedestrians and cyclists. By the time 2020 came along the government view was that cyclists must be physically separated from pedestrians and should not share space with pedestrians. ECC carried on with many of these schemes regardless of government advice and have no plans in place to rectify the situation, or improve the safety of cyclists in the carriageway. I have often wondered how much all those blue signs cost (e.g. “cyclists dismount”), and how many times they are enforced! Central government has quite a lot to say on how planning and Public Rights of Way are dealt with. Mainly this paragraph from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) :- “Planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance public rights of way and access, including taking opportunities to provide better facilities for users, for example by adding links to existing rights of way networks including National Trails.”
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