Representation by The British Horse Society (The British Horse Society)
- Date submitted
- 7 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The response below is from the British Horse Society however our volunteers in the county may also respond. The British Horse Society is the UK’s largest equestrian Charity, representing the UK’s 3 million horse riders. Nationally equestrians have just 22% of the rights of way network and are increasingly forced to use busy roads to access them. In Lincolnshire the incidents on highways reported to the BHS rose from 61 in 2021 to 78 in 2022. This illustrates the importance of protecting, improving and extending safe off-road provision to help to prevent these numbers from increasing in the future, particularly where developments will impact on the infrastructure. The equestrian industry generates £4.7 billion of consumer spending; £5,548 per horse (BETA, 2019) is contributed to the economy benefitting local economies where equestrian activities thrive. DEFRA has recorded 2,586 horses in the immediate LN4, PE20 and NG34 postcode areas (2021), making a total of £14,347,128 contribution to the economy. There are livery yards in the area creating employment and using equine services (vet, farrier, feed, instructors, etc) as well as growing interest in equestrian tourism (‘take your horse on holiday’). The NPPF para 100 states: “Planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance public rights of way and access, including taking opportunities to provide better facilities for users, for example by adding links to existing rights of way networks”. The bridleway and byway network in this area is limited and fragmented, therefore forcing equestrians to ride/lead/drive on the main roads to reach the safety of off-road provision further afield. Document 14.Transport and Access responds to the BHS question in 2022 regarding a permissive route within the site, partially following Public Footpath Heckington 15, which could be multi-user to include vulnerable road users - equestrians, cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users and mobility scooter users – rather than solely pedestrians. This would then connect with Sidebar LaneThe applicant states that ‘the Applicant does not have the requisite land rights to enable this’ however most paths, permissive or otherwise, are over private land and this development provides an opportunity to negotiate multi-user access for the period of the scheme. Sleaford has an Active Travel plan, therefore it would make sense to make any permissive routes multi-user and design these to link with the wider highway network, not only a footpath. Jesse Norman in House of Commons debate on Road Safety, 5 November 2018 stated: “We should be clear that the cycling and walking strategy may have that name but is absolutely targeted at vulnerable road users, including horse-riders”. According to BETA two-thirds of equestrians are women and Church et al (2010) found 37% of women who are horse riders are over 45 years of age and over a third would pursue no other physical activity. Developers should be looking at how to include this group, not how to exclude them. Public Bridleway Swineshead 13 relies on access via Royalties Lane therefore appropriate, safe access to the bridleway in terms of surface and dimensions, must be protected here. Timms Drove is an unclassified road on the List of Streets and the access spur proposed leads towards Public Bridleway Swineshead 13. With the exception of the construction phase, an opportunity would be to provide access between the bridleway and the road here. HGV return journeys at the height of the construction period will impact on the volume of traffic on the road network locally. Already mainly 60mph roads, the additional traffic will make the road network higher risk for vulnerable road users in the absence of speed restrictions or other traffic calming measures. Movement of the construction traffic may well coincide with times that equestrians are active on the roads to reach the off-road routes. The mitigation proposed in document 14. Transport and Access focusses on information for other users of the highway rather than education for the contractors regarding behaviour around vulnerable road users. HGV’s are generally 2.5m wide and 4.5m high (some vehicles for component transportation significantly larger) which, on the road network local to the site, would sandwich a horse and rider between the vehicle and the hedgerow or ditch along the route with little room for refuge which may cause panic. Research continues into historical evidence which indicates a number of ancient roads in the vicinity of the site are unrecorded or under recorded as footpaths or UCR’s; these routes can be reasonably alleged to subsist at a minimum of bridleway status. The BHS would welcome continued discussion and has further information for reference available here: [REDACTED} Wendy Bannerman Access Field Officer East and West Midlands British Horse Society [REDACTED] [REDACTED]