Minutes:
Rose Wicks presented to the forum the contents page of the Annual Report 2020-21 to provide an idea of what would be included in the report. Colin Bird had agreed to provide the Chairman’s foreword. The Introduction to LCAF would highlight the statutory duty to have a forum. Then there would be sections about annual reports, meetings (providing the dates of future meetings, and the current membership (the member’s interest list would be included in Appendix 1). The next section would be the impact of coronavirus pandemic on membership engagement, wellbeing of residents, and deterioration of rights of way. There would be a section on LCAF successes including being a big advocate for the accessibility improvements along Crowthorne FP8 (Broadmoor Farm), the new share the trail signs, new footpath link in Sandhurst, and the new and accessible Cabbage Hill circuit. The final section would be called Horizon scanning and would include developing more accessible routes, RoWIP2 mid-term review, and Bracknell Forest Definitive Map and Statement of Rights of Way consolidation.
Richard Mosses suggested including The Cuts Countryside Corridor and the Bullbrook Countryside Corridor. Rose Wicks agreed to add the work that has been done to provide SANGS and improve signage to the list. Colin Bird also suggested making it clear in the introduction about how LCAFs remit was broader than just focusing on improving Rights of Way. Rose agreed to add that.
Action: Rose Wicks to send the report in draft form to members by the end of the week for feedback.
Rose highlighted that one thing lacking from the report is pictures of forum members as some of the pictures previously used are of people who are no longer members of the forum. Rose suggested taking pictures during upcoming site visits.
Rose explained that at least one other LAF had provided details of how many volunteer hours members had contributed, and how this equated to monetary value. This incorporated time spent at meetings and site visits. Rose wondered if this was something that members thought would be useful for Bracknell Forest LCAF. Colin Bird expressed that it was always good to have figures, but he was not sure how to calculate this other than attendance at meetings as there has not been much external activity recently. Many members also volunteer their time inspecting the condition of Rights of Way, and it was suggested that it might be worth recording these activities as part of LCAFs work. Rose asked whether the forum would be happy to record hours of attendance at meetings over the past two years for the annual report 2021-22. Colin Bird agreed and suggested looking through agendas and recordings of previous meetings to see how long those were. There would be more site visits and other forum-related activities to incorporate into the next annual report in 2022. Sue McDaid advised caution against putting people off volunteering as members of the forum, as it may look like it takes a lot of time. Colin Bird felt that was a good point and it would be important to stress that we value any contribution that members can make.