Temp Closure - Upton, Hampshire

[stevent]

The rights of way Officer for Hampshire North gave me a call today, to inform us of some temporary closures at Tunworth / Upton Grey. The landowner has agreed to do some works here, so HCC want to take advantage of this.

http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=469602&Y=150195&A=Y&Z=120

The routes appear to have been damaged by 4x4 use. The ROW Officer sought to reassure that it is the intention to get the route open as soon as the route is able to withstand use.
I made the point that some of us aren't convinced that routes need to be closed for as long as they sometimes are.
Steven

Dear Steven, Mike and Tony

I am writing to advise you of a recent temporary closure placed on some byways in the Tunworth / Upton Grey area, known locally as Five Lanes End. I have attached some recent photographs which also includes an area off the byway which I understand is also the subject of abuse by vehicles.

The sections of byway currently closed present a hazard to users. The temporary closure is for all public users and gates at either end are intended so as to enforce this closure. I attach a copy of the notice which includes a plan.

We have been in communication with the landowners who have agreed to repair the surface if we can provide some material. This is an opportunity we wish to take full advantage of and hence our prompt action in initiating the closure to enable the works. The repair would be similar to work carried out on other farm tracks in the area which do sustain a level of private vehicular use. Upon completion of the repairs, consideration will be given to reopening the route. This may be a phased approach and could be weather dependant. The intention is to reopen the route to all users, however this may require a managed approach so as to avoid future damage.

As you will note from the plan, the closures are targeted to where the damage is present and we hope this will limit any inconvenience caused to users.

I will be happy to provide you with further updates when they become available.

Regards,


I've got the official notice, can't post it on here as it doesn't allow me to due to the file size.

[fallenmikethebike]

Well, there's no doubt about the cause of that quagmire.
Mike

[Dave]

Do they have any pictures of the hazardous sections?

[stevent]

Derek, Gavin - you both queried some temporary TROs which you came across while out riding. They're these ones - this is the official notice:
http://www3.hants.gov.uk/pnadetail?noticeUID=3321
I emailed HCC to find out what the latest is and when the route will be reopened.
You can check out TRO notices here: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/publicnotices.htm, just type "BOAT" into keyword search.

Steven

[mudeevee]

Thanks Steven....
While browsing the TRO's I noticed that the Grayshot BOAT extension goes on
And on
And on

I've not been down that way since June. Has anyone noticed any attempt to repair the Boat or remove the Gate?

[stevent]

Dear All

Subject: FW: Temporary byway closures (CAMS ref: 02930 / 02984)

Dear Steven – Thank you for your email below. I spoke to Tony yesterday who also requested an update so that he could feedback at your TRF meeting yesterday evening. If you were there then hopefully Tony was able to provide you with an update, however I did confirm that I would still respond to your email.

As you know, the temporary closure was placed on this route to enable the works to be completed and to avoid further damage. The tenant farmer had agreed to carry out the surfacing improvements with his staff and equipment and we have funded some of the material (the tenant also provided some infill material for the larger/deeper areas). Gates have been installed to enforce the closure, however additional signage was placed to explain that non motorised users could continue to use the route unless instructed otherwise by the landowner. This was because we were reliant on the tenant being able to fit this in around other work and we did not wish to restrict access unnecessarily.

The original plan was for the works to start around harvest time however this didn’t happen. The tenant has since made a good start, however discovered that it is a larger job than anticipated. It is worth noting that there isn’t really anything in it for the tenant to be doing this and since there is no capital funding for me to arrange a contractor to do the work the alternative would have been a longer term closure. James Emmett (Senior Access Ranger) has spoken to the tenant who has confirm that they are still committed to completing the job. Our Rangers were going to assist for a day or two last week, however again plans had to change. A large fallen tree across the route has also had an impact on timescales. James will continue to work with the tenant to see the project through to completion, however please do drop James an email if you require an update in the future.

In terms off future management, I would propose that at least one representative from the TRF (perhaps Tony?) together with Melanie Fortescue meet up with James on site to look at the completed works and discuss future management options. It might be felt that all restrictions can be removed, perhaps a seasonal TRO might be beneficial to some or all users or perhaps the permit scheme is another consideration. James is copied into this email and will arrange this site meeting once the works have been completed.

I note your comments relating to other closures, however perhaps Alison can respond to any more specific questions that you may have? As discussed with Tony yesterday, some positive feedback is the recent repairs to Candovers BOAT 09. This route was significantly rutted, clearly caused by vehicles. Whilst this may not have presented a difficulty to motorised users, it was problematic for other users, particularly cyclists as the wheels would slip in the ruts which were too deep to allow the pedals to go round. The ruts would also fill with water. Being an HCC promoted off road cycle route, this was clearly an issue. Additionally the ruts prevented access with machinery for the purposes of maintaining the surface vegetation. If not cut the ruts would be less visible to users. For the last few years we have therefore had to cut this route with brush cutters which is labour intensive and not best practise in terms of manual handling. We were able to secure capital funding for this route and the surface repairs are due to be completed by the end of the week. We are confident that the nature of this route and the type of repair that we have been able to implement will sustain future vehicular use without having an detrimental impact on other users. On this occasion the temporary closure has therefore only been necessary for the duration of the works (photos attached). Further, this job has come in a little cheaper than anticipated and therefore we are now also looking to improve the damaged sections of Ellisfield BOAT 13. Again, this route may not be causing an issue for vehicular users, however it is problematic for non motorised users and is again part of the promoted off road cycle trail.

As mention to Tony, I will be leaving HCC at the end of this week. For future enquiries relating to 5 Lanes End then please feel free to contact James direct, however for anything else it would be helpful if this could either be raised online (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/row/row-problemreporting.htm) or please email [email protected].

Many thanks and kind regards,

Area Countryside Access Manager – North

www.hants.gov.uk/countryside

From: Steven Taylor
Sent: 05 November 2014 19:57
To: North Countryside;
Subject: Re: Temporary byway closures (CAMS ref: 02930)

Dear Matthew

I hope you are well.

Members have been getting in touch with me about this closure. Would you be able to provide an update please, did the work take place and what are the plans for re-opening the route.

There is increasing concern about the duration of some other temporary closures (mainly on Allison's patch) so some good news on when these routes will be re-opened would be very welcome.

Kind regards

Steven
South London and Surrey TRF