- Title or Description
- Local Access Forums/Officers
- FOI Number
- 2024606
- Date Received
- 11/06/2024
- Type of Request
- FOI
- Request or Question
-
Under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), I would like to request the following information regarding Local Access Officers and Rangers:
1. Please confirm if the Council is involved in a local access forum.
2. If yes, please provide a list of membership.
3. Please confirm when the access forum last met.
4. Please confirm how many meetings of the forum have been held since January 2023. - Response
-
1. Please confirm if the Council is involved in a local access forum.
The Statutory Forum for the Scottish Borders area is the Borders Outdoor Access Forum referred to as the Forum below.
2. If yes, please provide a list of membership.
The membership is defined as
The Forum brings together the Access Authority and the wider interest, as embraced by four main groups which represent society as a whole, these being:
Land managers
Outdoor access users
Public agencies
Local communities.
The Forum
The Forum shall:
be convened by Scottish Borders Council in its role as Access Authority
be equably drawn from the stakeholder groups listed in 4.2.
elect a Chairman from its membership .
be managed by a Secretariat provided by Scottish Borders Council, acting in concert with a Chairman.
include one elected Member of Scottish Borders Council with appropriate interests in access matters who will attend in an observer capacity.
allow the Chairman, or a person nominated by the Chairman, to invite such parties to meetings as the Forum may consider relevant for the purpose of providing expert advice on any matter arising .
subject to prior notification allow stakeholder group representatives to be temporarily represented by a substitute acceptable to the group concerned.
General practice has been that the Chair is supported by the Senior Access Ranger role (currently vacant) with administrative support by the Access and Transport Assistant for Active Travel report and minute taking role. The Senior Access Ranger has in the past asked an Access Ranger to present the area report. In 2023 one Access Ranger and one Access and Transport Assistant have attended meetings with the Walk It Co-ordinator invited to the October 2023 meeting to present the annual report.
The current membership of the Forum (in addition to the Scottish Borders Council staff above) is -
* Chair and landowner representative.
* Vice Chair and NFU representative
* Scottish Land and Estates representative
* Forestry and Land Scotland representative
* Police Scotland representative
* Paths representative
* Scotways representative
* British Horse Society representative
* Water Interests representative
* Cycling representative
* Bowhill for local estates representatives
3. Please confirm when the access forum last met.
The most recent meeting was held on 24th October 2023
4. Please confirm how many meetings of the forum have been held since January 2023.
There have been 3 meetings of the Borders Access Forum since January 2023 including one in January 2023.
After a meeting the approved minutes of the previous meeting are displayed on our council website .
Minutes of Local Access Forum | Scottish Borders Council (scotborders.gov.uk) - Related links
- Minutes of Local Access Forum (scotborders.gov.uk)
