A report providing the Committee with update on progress with developing the new Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan for Reading, following feedback received from the initial public consultation that was carried out during the summer and which has been incorporated in the updated draft plan.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report that provided the Committee with an update on progress with developing the new Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan (RoWIP) for Reading, following feedback that had been received from the initial public consultation that had been carried out in summer 2022 and had been incorporated in the updated draft plan.  A copy of the Reading Rights of Way Improvement Plan – Draft for Public Consultation was attached to the report at Appendix A.

The report explained that the purpose of the RoWIP was to identify improvements for the rights of way network in the Borough, to ensure it was kept up to date and well maintained, to integrate it better into the overall transport network, to provide a better experience for its users and to encourage more people to choose to walk or cycle for local journeys.  Public rights of way provided rights to enable land to be accessible by the public, allowing people to pass along them at any time.  In addition to walking some rights of way were also open to cyclists, horse riders and in rare cases motorists, although there were none open to motorists in Reading.  The different types of right of way included footpaths, bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic. 

The public rights of way network was set out in the Definitive Map and Statement which were held by all local transport authorities.  The network in Reading constitutes 41 footpaths, three bridleways and one restricted bridleway.  Some of these routes connected people to key destinations and were used by people travelling to work and school, as well as rural type routes that were used for leisure.  Public rights of way were marked with signs or coloured arrows, for example yellow for footpaths and blue for bridleways.  As part of preparing the draft RoWIP an initial consultation had been carried out from 7 June to 24 July 2022, feedback on using shared paths for walking and cycling had also been asked for as well as the rating of the RoWIP priorities and for evidence of any historic rights of way that had not been recorded as part of the current network.  Over 200 responses had been received and the key headline feedback was included in the report.

The feedback that had been received had been used to update the draft RoWIP and, in addition, audits of all the rights of way in the Borough had been carried out to help with the development of the plan.  The draft strategy for consultation was a wide ranging plan, covering all aspects of management, maintenance and improvement of the Public Rights of Way network which aimed to meet the current and future needs of the public.  It was proposed to carry out a 12 week statutory consultation over winter 2022/23 which would include a public survey and engagement with statutory consultees.  In addition to the main strategy document, there were a number of appendices which were currently being finalised.Following the conclusion of the consultation all feedback that had been provided would be reviewed and the plan would be updated and submitted for approval to a future meeting for the Council to adopt formally the new RoWIP in 2023.

Resolved –

(1)    That the progress made on developing a new Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan for Reading, as outlined in the report, be noted;

(2)     That the undertaking of a 12 week statutory public consultation on the draft Public Rights of Way Improvement Plan, in line with guidance produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs be approved.