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| BADFA's Year 2006 News |
| For news from other years use News Index |
| # Cunning crossing opens
under A41 # AGM 2006 # Gaps Gates & Stiles revision # Not an April Fool # Rights of Way Improvement Plan # Ivy Stevens |
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Cunning crossing opens
under A41 8 Sep 2006 Was it 20 years? Maybe a bit less. Anyway, the official opening of the M1/A41 crossing took place on Tuesday 8th August 3.00pm
Crossing the busy A41 in Bushey got safer. We have now got a crossing that cunningly uses a spare arch of a bridge so as to get under the A41, and so avoids crossing this busy two-way road. The arch was spare because at the time this bit of the M1 was being built the D relief road (Ringway 3) had not yet been cancelled in favour of the M25 an an interchange with it was planned at this location, the arch would have carried that road. BADFA (the Bushey And District Footpaths Association) has supported this project throughout. BADFA's Secretary Dr Phil Wadey has kept this long planned project alive through many set-backs and false starts. Phil, and Chris Beney, BADFA's Chairman are both on Hertsmere Borough's Greenways panel working to get a good non-vehicular route across the Borough from Bushey to Shenley. This new link is a major step forward for that aim. 
Construction work
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| AGM a success 23 May 2006 BADFA's AGM on 22nd May was well attended. Richard DeBoise, our treasurer, presented the accounts showing a reasonable balance. Ann White, membership secretary, told us we were on course for over 250 members when the last of the renewals come in. Phil Wadey gave one of his special talks, this year it was "Recent
Legislative Changes". It wasn't all 'recent' as he set modern law in the
context of older law, especially the Highway Act of 1835.
Chris Beney in "A Journey through Structures" explained his involvement
in Gaps Gates, Stiles and Cattle Grids. Following the interval Chris reviewed some of BADFA's history and achievements in the fifteen years that we have been around. He started with our formation and followed with examples of our Works, Walks and Recording over these years.
Ralph Shelton designed our logo for us, above are the original suggestions and below is the final version he produced. We have only made very minor changes to it over the years.
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Gaps Gates and Stiles revision announced still "Least Restrictive Option" 3 April 2006 Top of Page 20th April is the planned date for the publication of two updated Path Standards: BS5709:2006 Gaps Gates and Stiles and BS 4008:2006 Cattle Grids These were considered to have parts in common and so their updates were done by the same British Standards Institution panel of people, panel B/201 No 13. BS4008 Cattle Grids is a fairly old standard last revised fifteen years ago and the working party simply reviewed it, updating it to incorporate new legislation such as health and safety rules and cross referencing the side (pedestrian or bridle) gates that are part of cattle grids to BS5709, below. BS5709 Gaps Gates and Stiles had been given a major rewrite in
2001. It had been rewritten as a functional standard, that is it didn't lay
down what material the structures had to be made of, nor in most cases what
design they should follow, but it simply specified things like maximum
step-up height for stiles and maximum opening force for kissing-gates. The
newly revised version is also a functional standard. Above
all it still follows the Government (and BADFA) policy of least
restrictive option, so the minimum necessary restriction must be applied
when deciding on these path structures. These standards are likely to be just in time to play a part in the introduction of Section 69 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and can help fulfil obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act of 2005. BADFA wasn't directly involved in these revisions, but both our chairman and our secretary were on the BSi panel, representing the Open Spaces Society and the British Horse Society respectively.
On the left a typical stile with high bars and barbed wire round the post. On the right, at the same location, a stile put in by BADFA, one of the very few British Standard stiles in Hertfordshire. But even this is being shortly replaced with an (even easier) gate. |
| Unfortunately not an April Fool 31 March 2006 Top of Page Alleyways and other paths put at further risk by Parliament. We have reported elsewhere on this website (http://www.badfa.org.uk/lostways/lostways.htm, and see also http://www.unrecordedways.org.uk ) about a risk to many paths in 2026. But twenty years before those powers bite in, on 1st April 2006, local authorities have brand new powers to make Gating Orders. These orders allow paths to be stopped up, temporarily or semi-permanently, on the nebulous grounds of a local authority being satisfied that premises near the path are affected by crime or anti-social behaviour and that the existence of the path is facilitating that behaviour. BADFA can think of several useful paths where the local residents might love these orders, because it doesn't stop up the path for them, they would have keys and enjoy private use of what was (and still technically remains) a public highway. BADFA is unhappy with the whole tone of this law. For example: the official guidance seems to be that unlike ordinary path orders, these new ones don't necessarily have to have an inquiry if there are objections. Further, though the Guidance very properly says that any inspector should be independent, they spoil it by saying that impartiality is needed in order to to protect against court challenges. No suggestion there that impartiality might actually be the right thing to do. |
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There is a statutory duty on County Hall to produce a rights of way improvement plan. User groups expect it to deal, as Parliament intended, with improvement over and above the current duty to look after paths. So for instance if it said "We aim to halve the number of paths obstructed by crops" that, being a current obligation, should not be in the Plan. BADFA committee is (at mid January 2006) looking at the recently produced draft plan and we have already identified areas needing attention such as allowing, sometimes, the compulsory path creation powers to be used. It would be rare, but Hertsmere used these powers once to good effect (forcing an agreement) for a two metre long missing path link and we know of at least one more locally where it is needed. But we would like our members to take a look and comment direct (preferably) or through us. So we have put a copy of the draft here (PDF file 200K, medium, size). BADFA can loan or give a printed copy on request, ring 01923-211113. Deadline 10th February,
not much time. |
Ivy Stevens 18 January 2006 Top of Page .Long time BADFA
member Ivy Stevens died very recently The photo on the left was believed to have been taken near Gorehambury to the north of St Albans. Whilst a great walker, Ivy was not keen on latched gates. Baffled by one latch on a kissing gate, we asked her how she would manage if she hadn't been in a group. She immediately got close to the ground and slipped under the gate showing initiative and demonstrating that the nearby sheep could get out if they tried. A photo of that event was used to illustrate many talks, including one to countryside trainees at Birkbeck College in London. She has not been active for some years now and her passing was not
unexpected, but we will miss her and her cheeriness. |
The spare arch being
converted
after a long illness. Before she became ill Ivy was a stalwart walker with
BADFA. She was one of a small group which did some formal path survey
training in our early years.