Success with bridleway bridge after lengthy public inquiry

Janice Bridger has sent me this letter. Great news for riders in the area

HIGHWAYS AGENCY A34/M4 JUNCTION 13 SCHEME

Dear fellow equestrian,
During the last three or so years, a few of us have been fighting the latest public inquiry to get a bridleway bridge over the A34 just south of M4 junction 13 when the junction is upgraded. This was to provide an off-road link between Curridge and Snelsmore, using the historic tracks of Chalky Lane in Curridge and Green Lane on the west side of the A34. Well, to sum up a very long story in just two words, 'we won'. The British Horse Society, West Berkshire Ramblers and the Rights of Way Department at West Berks Council all pulled together to present a case for a separate crossing for non-motorised users. The Inspector decided that the Highways Agency must provide a separate crossing for non-motorised users (horses, cyclists and walkers). As you can see as you travel through Junction 13, work is just starting, including a bridleway bridge, with a projected completion date of July 2004. The Highways Agency had proposed a route for horses but their route involved using roundabouts, overpasses and underpasses along with HGV traffic. They claimed, with the help of a Queen's Council barrister, this route would be perfectly safe for horses. OK, it would have been a good place to train your horse to get used to HGV's but not many of us want to do that! Part of the long drawn-out procedure was to get questionnaires returned from as many horse-riders in the area as possible and in the space of a couple of weeks! The equestrian questionnaire formed an important part of the case for the crossing. Without the questionnaires, I doubt that we would have won but ideally we needed a lot more returned. It highlighted the need to know, quickly, how many riders are in an area and where they ride.

What lessons did we learn?
Overall, we learnt what can be done by making our voice heard. It was a lot of effort but hopefully it will be worth it. We learnt that horse-riders in West Berkshire need to be better organized and better represented so that we can put our case forward for better off-road riding. The Ramblers, trail bike riders and 4 x 4 drivers are well organized and put their cases well. In addition, we learnt:
So, we are putting together a contact list of equestrians in West Berkshire on which organizations like West Berks Council, the British Horse Society and the Highways Agency can draw.
If you would like to be on this list, please contact
Janice Bridger, The Warren, Curridge, Berks RG18 9DN
Tel. 01635 200507 (weekends & 7- 9pm eves)
or by email: JB address
Please say what area you could cover or comment on, or in what other way you could help. Or just make contact to express an interest in equestrian rights of way. Equestrians are required who are out and about on their local tracks (however limited - you don't have to be riding for miles), or ex-riders who can see things from an equestrian perspective. You could do as much or as little as you like or, perhaps, you could take some local initiatives forward with the help and experience of others. There is quite a lot going on out there (see below) and the BHS has a lot of knowledge (see the Access pages on the BHS web-site - www.bhs.org.uk).
What else is going on?
Well quite a lot in which horse-riders (and carriage drivers?) need to get involved.
  1. West Berkshire Rights of Way condition survey.
    Last summer West Berks Council conducted a survey of all the rights of way in West Berks. This was done by volunteers - ramblers, cyclists etc and a few horse-riders. Another example of needing to get in touch with horse-riders quickly.
  2. Highways Agency Vulnerable Road User Crossings Survey.
    The Highways Agency seems to have woken up to the fact that trunk roads have adversely affected many rights of way. In West Berkshire, they are currently asking for information about rights of way affected by the M4 and the A34. This needs local horsey knowledge. Penny Reid (the Berkshire BHS County & Access Officer) and I are commenting on what we know about but are there any crossings that you would like improved? By the way, more good news is that the bridge over the M4 just west of junction 13 at Bussocks Wood (which was mistakenly built to footpath standards when the M4 was built and then closed to horse-riders) is to be replaced by a bridleway bridge when Junction 13 is changed. This has been achieved without a public inqury, thank goodness.
  3. Rights of way Improvement Plans.
    Following on from the recent CROW act, local authorities will be formulating these plans. West Berkshire wants input from local user groups. This is a chance to get the needs of horse-riders on the list. Positive and persistent input is needed from riders who are prepared to understand the present system and work with other user groups. Could you play a role? There were some suggestions on the returned equestrian questionnaire forms: link Chalky Lane and Marsh Lane in Curridge. There is not a right of way here so perhaps the landowner might make a permissive route? Someone needs to take this up. Imaginative ideas are required. For example,
    The Ramblers already have their 'wish-list' organized. We horse-riders need to get in there.
  4. Bridleway crossing of the railway line at Thatcham.
    This is a current example of the sort of help that West Berks needs from us. Do any horse-riders use this crossing? Would a link between the Chamberhouse Farm and Highfield Farm bridleways be of use? How close to the railway line would you ride a horse?
  5. Repairs to damaged Rights of Way.
More about the Public Inquiry
What a lot of work this was for a few! And for something which should have been a matter of course, from many a horse-rider's point of view. Penny Reid, the BHS County & Access Officer has been fighting for a safe horse crossing here for longer than she cares to remember. She had even been through an unsuccessful public inquiry in 1992. There were a number of twists and turns in the saga as the inquiry proceeded. Just to give you a flavour of the 'fun' we had, one point of note was that the barrister for the Highways Agency (yes, they had very sharp professionals and we had ourselves!) tried to demolish our case by publicly bringing to the attention of the inquiry that a small section of Green Lane was classified as a footpath, not a byway. This meant that horses could not legally go any further than the motorway embankment. What was the point of spending vast sums of money to provide a separated crossing, he argued? This had, in fact, been a mistake made when the M4 was built. We thought our case was lost, even though it applied equally to the much cheaper Highways Agency scheme. To cut a long story short, Suzanne Hopes of West Berks Rights of Way Department contacted the landowner, Mr Palmer, asking if he would consider upgrading the 50 metres or so of footpath to bridleway status. He agreed to this for which we owe him a great debt of thanks. We also owe a big thank you to the residents of Snelsmore Farm House and Snelsmore Barns who supported our case even though the new bridge will be close to their properties. There are more stories but I will need to leave these until I write my memoirs!
So, the first step is to get a list of contacts (see previous page). Who knows, this might lead to the start of a bridleway group for West Berkshire - if enough riders come forward. See the Wiltshire Bridleways Association for an example of an active and successful bridleways group (www.wiltshirebridlewaysassociation.org.uk.). The Hampshire branch of the BHS has a bridleways sub-committee formed of riders who want to press for improvements in their local off-road riding. Perhaps we should develop one for West Berkshire - it's up to you……………! Janice Bridger, (Local rider & public inquiry fighter!) The Warren, Curridge, Berks. RG18 9DN. Tel: 01635 200507; JB address April 2003 (Version - general)