The Lincolnshire Joint Local Access Forum met to discuss a range of issues relating to public rights of way, including a review of the Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO) prioritisation policy, membership of the King Charles III Coast Path Partnership, encouraging parish council engagement, permissive paths, and design criteria for diversions and new path orders. The forum agreed to send details of Anglian Water's response regarding the reservoir to members, and also agreed to County Councillor Carl Peter Edgoose-Zagorskiy becoming the deputy chair.

DMMO Prioritisation Policy Review

The forum discussed the Lincolnshire County Council DMMO Prioritisation Policy Review, which proposes a new weighted scoring system to determine the priority of DMMO cases. Andrew Fletcher, Public Rights of Way and Access Manager, explained that the existing policy prioritises cases primarily by date of receipt, with exceptions for threats to routes, community conflict, health and safety, and strategic importance. However, since 2020, there has been a 1,582% increase in applications, creating a caseload that could take approximately 30 years to resolve.

The new policy introduces a transparent, objective scoring framework considering factors such as:

• Significant public safety issue
• Impact on residential privacy
• Route through residential building
• Impact on residential curtilage
• Predominantly user evidence
• Partially user evidence
• Sustained ill feeling in community
• Sustained aggression in community
• Legal proceedings likely or underway
• Significant threat to route
• Financial saving to council
• Missing link or anomaly in network
• Falls within fragmented network area
• Provides off-road access to services

The score awarded for each element is added up to produce a total score, which will then fit the case into the existing priority order. If multiple cases score equally, they are then ordered by date of receipt. The proposed new prioritisation policy is included as Appendix B of the LAF Report - DMMO Prioritisation Policy.

Members raised concerns and suggestions regarding the new policy:

• Angie Tomlin, User of Public Rights of Way, asked for clarification that DMMOs that do not score highly will not be removed, but pushed further back in the queue.
• Chris Miller, Head of Environment at the Research Council, expressed concern that cases could remain on file for 30 years and asked if any of those cases would be brought forward in the next five years.
• Dr Ian Lacey, User of Public Rights of Way, asked if a pilot had been conducted to assess the impact of the scoring system on a selection of applications.
• Peter Hinton, User of Public Rights of Way, noted that parish councils have stated that most complaints they receive about DMMOs relate to curtainage¹ and wondered why its score was only five.

The forum recommended that legacy issues be included in the priority order and given a scoring, so that the amount of time a case has been on the list is recognised as part of the formal scoring. They also recommended that applicants be given a time frame or an anticipated time frame for their application to be processed.

Membership of King Charles III Coast Path Partnership

The forum considered an invitation to join a stakeholder group to help steer and develop projects to improve the King Charles III England Coast Path. Victor Clark, who lives in Mapplethorpe, volunteered to be the forum's representative on the stakeholder group. The forum agreed to notify the chair of the partnership of their decision and provide them with Victor Clark's contact details.

Model Guidelines for Encouraging Parish Councils

Peter Hinton presented the Model Guidelines for Encouraging Parish Councils to Engage in Improvements to and Promote the Use of Public Rights of Way. The guidelines aim to encourage and enlist the support of parish councils in the processes for the improvement of public rights of way in Lincolnshire for the benefit of their local communities and visitors. The objectives of the guidance are to encourage parish councils to:

• Help and advise their communities to make use of public rights of way for allowable leisure and travel activities.
• Promote the benefits for people using open spaces and public rights of way in rural communities.
• Monitor the condition of public rights of way in their local areas and engage with their communities to provide a reporting process to inform the County Council of any defects.
• Ensure their communities can readily access the county definitive map of public rights of way and understand the signage used to indicate who and what may use the different types of public rights of way.
• Consider how local resources may enhance public rights of way and open access sites through information signage, provision of street furniture and measures to make access suitable for the less able.
• Develop community understanding of the Countryside Code, advice to dog owners and care for the environment.

Members made the following comments and suggestions:

• Barry Clifton, User of Public Rights of Way, noted that when the Hardly Played Neighbourhood Development Plan was written, the appendix was called the Green Plan, and outlined what the village would want as development grew.
• Councillor Jane Lesley King stated that there is a strain on parish councils, and they will be asked to be picking up quite a lot more stuff, such as public open spaces.
• Councillor Steve Holland, North East Lincolnshire Council, suggested that as well as a document, there should be a PowerPoint presentation of six or seven slides or reflected in a PDF without the highlights that somebody can talk them through.

Permissive Paths

Peter Hinton presented a report on permissive paths, which allow public access to private land with revocable permission. The report highlighted the challenges of permissive paths, including a lack of clear information, outdated signage, and limited funding. The report called for improved guidance, community involvement, and expanded access options beyond footpaths to better support users and landowners.

Design Criteria for Diversions and Creation of New Path Orders

Chris Padley presented a report on design criteria for diversions and the creation of new paths orders. The report invited the forum to discuss and review suggested ideas on design criteria for diversions and the creation of new paths orders. The aim is to improve the coherence, usability, and long-term integrity of the public rights of way network by avoiding unnecessary complexity in path layouts and ensuring that small decisions contribute positively to the overall network.

Work Programme

The forum considered its work programme and scheduled future meeting dates. County Councillor Carl Peter Edgoose-Zagorskiy was formally proposed and seconded as deputy chair.