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  Essex Area UpdateVolume 9. September 2010. Issue 5.The newsletter of the Ramblers’ Association Essex Area“The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577; Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW.”
Editor: Len Banister E-mail: talkingwalking@aol.com Phone: 02085 278 158
Has Health & Safety gone mad or what?Students of the Ramblers-net may well enjoy its reawakening after a rather fallow time since April when Concerned Ramblers were successful in their campaign to get two members elected to the Board of Trustees (you won’t have heard much from them as the plan seems to be to keep a ‘watching brief’ until the next General Council elections). There are several little issues, which have cropped up lately but the one, which has exercised the netters most, concerns a Draft Safeguarding policy. This policy is designed to take into account the fact that the Ramblers provide activities, which sometimes include children & families, and adults who may be vulnerable. It goes on to say that; we are committed to doing what we can to safeguard their well- being. Our trustees have a legal duty to act prudently, and are therefore responsible for putting reasonable measures in place, trying to ensure that those benefiting from, or working with, the charity are not harmed through their contact with it. - Which is all as it should be. The problem is that the draft policy then occupies 15 pages to tell us something which, David Siddons, Secretary of the Leicester Group, has shortened to; Children should be welcomed on suitable rambles, but should either be accompanied by a responsible adult or in the case of an unaccompanied child over 14 have the written permission of their parents or guardians Now I am not saying that David is not erring on the side of brevity but I am of the opinion that the draft policy provides a precipice of bureaucracy. You may remember John Mountain’s criticism of the policy concerning the leadership of walks – he was rightly inimitably concerned that people would stop leading walks in Essex if the policy were adopted. Both of these policies emanate from the Led Walks Team set up as a result of a successful project bid to Ramblers Worldwide Holidays. The funding for the project is ring-fenced and cannot be spent on other activities. This, and the fact that the Trustees want to cover themselves against claims, accounts for the extraordinarily bureaucratic approach that the Team has to its work. As we all know, work expands to fill the time available. I may be biased but have a look at the following draft policy:- http://www.ramblers.org.uk/Resources/Ramblers%20Association/Website/Volunteering/Documents/Safeguard_draft_Aug2010test.pdf and maybe respond to the consultation by e-mailing:-childandvulnerableadults@rambers.org.uk LAB
Letters
So what do our District Footpath Secretaries (DFPS) actually do?Mags Hobby provides some interesting answers
Mags Hobby Area Footpath Secretary 01206 383869
Known by some as the ‘Walkers Bible’ - The Blue Book.More properly known as “Rights of Way – a Guide to Law & Practice", It is in its fourth edition, by, John Riddell & John Trevelyan. It is nearly 900 pages telling you all you would ever need to know about the law relating to our walking routes. It is kept up-to-date by a website extra http://www.ramblers.co.uk/rightsofwaybook/bbe/. There is one copy in the Essex Library System, and is also held by all the District Footpath Secretaries. Mags
New Group Walks Finder Support Page.A new and improved Group Walks Finder support page is now available in the Volunteering section of the website at www.ramblers.org.uk/volunteer/groupwalksfinder All the existing support resources have been thoroughly revised and incorporated into five detailed fact sheets which can be downloaded from this page, which also includes spreadsheet templates and a list of the currently supported walk theme and festival codes. This replaces both the previous fact sheets and the various help and support options in the password-protected section of the Walks Finder.The new page should make it much easier for existing walks editors to find the information and resources they need, and for Areas and Groups not currently using the Walks Finder to find out what's involved and get off to a good start. The launch of the new support page coincides with some important changes to the system. These include branding all walks of five miles or less with the Walk4Life or Active Nation brands, withdrawing the 'Walking for Health' special category and revising the list of currently supported themed walk and festival codes. We have also taken the opportunity to make a number of minor improvements and fix some longstanding bugs. More information about the changes. If your Group is not yet using the system, now is the perfect time to get started. The Group Walks Finder is a great way to promote walks programmes and encourage new walkers, new members and new volunteers. It’s also a great way to help everyone including existing members find a full range of walks across Britain, useful when travelling or when the Group covering your postcode offers no suitable walks for you but other nearby Groups do. Around three quarters of Groups now use the system, which is one of the most popular sections of the Ramblers website. Many Groups say it is their major source of new members, and there is evidence to suggest Groups that use it enjoy higher memberships than Groups that don’t. Some Areas and Groups list walks on their own websites, but we recommend they list them on Walks Finder too. There is no need to retype details: once walks are on the Walks Finder you can link to them from a local website or create a simple listing that can be incorporated into another web page. The Group Walks Finder is easy to use if you have a few very basic IT skills, a computer with an internet connection and readily available software. To see the Walks Finder in action visit www.ramblers.org.uk/walksfinder.
The volunteer E-Newsletter directly.If you don't receive the volunteer E-Newsletter directly, you can do so by going to the Newsletter sign up form. It takes less than a minute to complete, and by completing it you will receive all the information available to support all volunteer roles within the Ramblers.
International Childcare Trust,I am contacting you from International Childcare Trust, which is a small charity, which makes a big difference to some of the poorest and hardest to reach children in Africa & Asia.
We are looking for people to trek up Africa's 2nd highest peak www.trek-mount-kenya.com for a life-changing challenge and help some of the poorest and hardest to reach children in Africa & Asia but we need help promoting this trip, could you help us though your magazine or website?
Mount Kenya is an extinct volcano with incredible scenery and wildlife; elephants, rhinos and leopards roam the surrounding area. Participants will see Rainforests, Mooreland, Plantations, great valleys, glacier fields and beautiful African skies.
This journey ends with a project visit - International Childcare Trust is one of the very few charities which enables people to visit one of our projects and meet the children we help – so you can see exactly how your hard-earned sponsor money helps give children safety, support and hope for the future.
To see what our challenges are like see our new films: Trek Nepal www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiI-e9MZW2o Cycle Tanzania www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdgy5DvFQOI
We do not have a large budget for advertising because of our size and because we want to spend the money we do raise on helping impoverished kids – so any help promoting this event would be greatly appreciated and would really make a difference to the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children in the world.
Best wishes, Seb Byas
Walk for St Clare HospiceMy name is Tracy and I am the Events Fundraiser at St Clare Hospice. I am currently organising a charity walk on Saturday 18th September and I wondered whether you could let your members know about it, in case they are interested in taking part?
Who? We need YOU to walk for St Clare Hospice! What? Starlight Walk – a 6-mile walk round Loughton and Buckhurst Hill When? Saturday 18th September at 8pm Where? The walk starts from the library and leisure centre’s car park on Trap’s Hill Why? Walk in memory of a loved one you’ve lost, walk for someone you know, who has been helped by St Clare Hospice or just walk for fun and fitness. It costs in excess of £2.3 million to care for the Hospice’s patients and families and money raised from this walk will contribute to this.
People can register online at www.stclare-hospice.co.uk/starlightwalk or they can download an entry form from this site. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Many thanks, Tracy Stratford, Events Fundraiser, Tel (01279) 773 758
Friends Group ES13 “Baton Walk”This is just to confirm that our (Friends Group ES13) 'Baton Walk' will be taking place on Tues. 7th September 2010 from the 'Queens Head', Boreham. I shall then submit a short report to the RA and also include a few photos. Regards, Rob Hart, Friends Group (ES 13)
The countryside has been spared from destruction. More good news in that another issue we have been campaigning against, the proposal to build 5,500 houses in Lilley Bottom next to the Chilterns AONB in what must be one of the most beautiful areas of countryside in Hertfordshire has been won.
I quote from the web site of CPRE in Hertfordshire: - "We are delighted with the news that the Joint Planning Committee of Luton Borough and Central Bedfordshire Councils have removed from their draft Core Strategy the proposal for the massive number of houses and two bypasses to be built in Lilley Bottom.
CPRE has fought this from the outset and set up the local group Keep East of Luton Green, consisting of people from both Hertfordshire and Luton who have worked extremely hard and to great effect. The countryside, which has been spared from destruction, is some of the most beautiful in Hertfordshire, just as attractive as the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which it borders.
This is the first blow struck by the new government in its policy to give local people more say in plans, which can drastically affect their quality of life. It means that one local authority cannot try to meet its housing needs by invading the countryside in a neighbouring authority's area. Please forward this to any friends or colleagues who you know will be interested.
Thank you and best wishes, Philip Greswell, Countryside Secretary, Hertfordshire and N' Middx' Area,
Path Tweaks to Essex CC Highways Act 1980 by Kevin Ascott
s110 Public Path Diversion Order. Footpath Cold Norton 13 Order Made 7th July 2010 Confirmed 22nd July 2010 This had now put the definitive route across Three Rivers Golf Course on the long established and well way-marked permissive Another minor one Len. Simply moves the access south 80m down the road to take the path out of the actual farm yard
s119 Public Path Diversion Order Footpath Mayland 3 (Part) Order made 28th May 2010 Confirmed 21st July 2010 A very pleasant little path which runs between Cold Norton FP14 at GR 85050030 and Cold Norton 19 at GR 85350030, used as an alternative to slogging down the footway of Latchingdon Road for many a year, is now on the Definitive map as Cold Norton FP28
An Amateur Legal Expert After having spent over 30 years taking on powerful public bodies and wealthy landowners a last legal battle is about to commence. Now 76, Colin Seymour, a Yorkshire man says that his failing hearing and eyesight could mean the end of his days championing public access to bridleways, footpaths and highways. The former teacher claims to have never lost a case during more than 100 court appearances and about 50 public inquiries. He once quoted from a Latin document dated 1472, which forced a council to resurface an unmade track, giving motorists a useful shortcut. Over three decades he has fought many battles with councils and landowners over issues relating from the destruction of ancient hedgerows to the loss of public rights of way. In 1997, he quoted from an Enclosure Act of 1765 to prevent a hawthorn hedgerow in Flamborough being uprooted to make way for a bowling green. This week, Mr Seymour was at a public inquiry into whether the public has a right to cross private owned land at the former site of Methley Junction Colliery, near Leeds, where he lived in the 1970s and 1980s. He is being opposed by the might of Network Rail, which has drafted in its own legal and technical experts and another landowner who has taken on two rights of way consultants to argue against public rights of access. Mr Seymour, who now lives in Bridlington, presented the inquiry with a huge sheaf of documents that he says proves that paths running down to the river Calder are ancient highways that have been used for centuries. He argued that a ferry took passengers across the river until the 1930s and that rights of way existed to allow people access to the ferry from the Leeds to Pontefract road. He told the inquiry that he had won many environmental cases in court over the years, securing victories against organisations including the National Coal Board, British Waterways, British Rail and councils. The land in question, he said, had become a "fortress" because of barbed wire and a missing bridge, which prevented walkers crossing a railway cutting. A previous landowner had placed signs warning that "dogs would be shot" and walkers had felt threatened, he added. Mr Seymour is giving evidence in support of a Methley resident, Mr Major Croman, 84, who has campaigned for the paths to be given the legal protection of a "modification order". Speaking outside the public inquiry, Mr Croman said it was good to have Mr Seymour on his side. "He's fantastic – what he doesn't know about footpaths isn't worth knowing." Mr Croman said the dispute over access went back to 1991 when access to the former colliery site was prevented by a locked gate and notices about "private property". In about 2007 he received a report commissioned by Leeds Council, which suggested that no rights of way existed. Mr Seymour approached him and the pair began the legal process that resulted in this week's inquiry. Jeremy Greenwood, a liability negotiations manager for Network Rail, cited various Railways Acts and Victorian-era maps which he said proved that a public footpath had never existed across the railway bridge, which is now demolished. Leeds Council is remaining "neutral" during the inquiry, having been previously ordered by a Government inspector to advertise its intention to introduce the "modification order". During a break in yesterday's proceedings Mr Seymour, a former marathon runner who complains of failing health and now wears a hearing aid, said he expected this to be his final court battle. "It will probably have to be my last because I can't see and I can't hear. I am knackered." But a colleague and friend from Methley chipped in: "He has been saying this for years and still he comes back." 'The law was the only way to win' Professional lawyers respect him and public bodies probably fear him and ramblers love him. Amateur lawyer Colin Seymour began championing the rights of the "little man" against the rich and powerful when, 30 years ago, the coal board planned an open cast mine near his home at Methley, near Leeds. "I realised the only way to beat them was to use the law." He went on to take on many public bodies and became an expert in tracking down and understanding legal and planning documents going back centuries. During two cases, his submissions led to changes in the law. By Andrew Robinson.
The Ramblers’ Association is a registered charity (England & Wales no 1093577; Scotland no SC039799) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no 4458492). Registered office: 2nd floor, Camelford House, 87-90 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TW. |
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