Agenda item

Purpose:           To inform members of the information technology methods available for the public to report problems on public rights of way.

That the contents of the report and demonstration of the CAMS web system be noted.

The Senior Rights of Way Officer shared information on the Countryside Access Management System (CAMS) which had been used by the Council’s Rights of Way team for almost 20 years to record rights of way issues reported by the public.

The Rights of Way Officer gave a demonstration of CAMS web, the internet-enabled module for reporting faults on public rights of way which was accessed via a link on the Council’s website.  New users were required to register their details to access the system and could then select specific areas from the digital map on which to input data on the issue they wished to raise, such as reporting obstructions, fly tipping etc.  Since its launch in 2014, a number of improvements had been made to the system and a further update in the New Year would resolve some outstanding problems such as updating community areas and enabling progress to be automatically sent to the user who had reported the problem.  In the meantime, users were able to track progress of their raised issues via the unique reference number generated by the system.  Feedback from user sessions held with the Flintshire Local Access Forum and other relevant groups had been passed to the developers to improve the system, and the intention now was to raise awareness of the system with small groups of Members.

Councillor Chris Dolphin asked about the number of people who had used the system and raised concerns about the outstanding problems, including response times, which he felt would discourage users.  He also took the opportunity to express his appreciation for the work done on footpaths by Jon Hill.  The Senior Rights of Way Officer said that the forthcoming update would resolve these problems and that over 150 people had raised issues through various sources including the CAMS web.

During discussion on footpath numbers, it was confirmed that these could be viewed by selecting a particular footpath on the digital map.  The Senior Rights of Way Officer also advised the Committee that the display of footpath numbers on public footpaths was currently being phased in.

In response to the comments made, the Chief Officer for Planning & Environment acknowledged that the system was not yet finished and was awaiting the update.  He reiterated that the trial sessions with user groups had resulted in various changes to the system being implemented by the developer.

Following a request by Councillor Dolphin, officers agreed to provide the Committee with details of the cost of the system.  Councillor Dolphin also asked for information on the system to enable him to share with others.

In response to the latter request, Councillor Nancy Matthews asked that this be circulated to all Members of the Committee.  She went on to say that the service from the developer was not satisfactory and requested information on the procurement process.  Councillor Ann Minshull commented that the system appeared to be too complex.

Councillor Mike Peers also raised concerns about the outstanding problems on the system and questioned why these had arisen.  Whilst he felt it was useful for Members to be aware of the existence of the system, his view was that any briefing for Members should be delayed until the system was in full working order.  The officers spoke about the aim to raise awareness of the system and for any feedback to be passed to the developer to make improvements.  The upgrade was currently being tested by the developer prior to its rollout early in the New Year, and it was the intention to publicise the system more fully at that point.

Councillor David Evans asked if the system was linked to other methods of recording rights of way issues, such as Streetscene, ‘Fix My Street’ or the Big Pathwatch initiative.  Officers explained that people were able to report issues through various methods, all of which were filtered through to the Rights of Way team to log onto CAMS.

The Chair felt that more prominence should be given to the system on the Council’s website to raise awareness and that it would be useful to create a mobile phone app to scan QR codes on footpath signs so that the footpath number could be easily identified.

The officers recognised that more could be done to publicise the CAMS web which was currently located under the ‘Streets and Travel’ section of the website.  In addition, it could be easily accessed under ‘Public Rights of Way’ from the A-Z list.  They agreed to take back the suggestion of an app for footpath identification, noting the cost implication of accessing CAMS on a tablet.  In response to earlier comments, they explained that the company which had developed CAMS had worked with most other local authorities across Wales as there was no alternative provider.  All feedback given to the developer was subject to consideration at regular group meetings and improvements had been made as a result of this.

RESOLVED:

That the contents of the report and demonstration of the CAMS web system be noted.