Manchester has a very large number of lanes that have been overlooked and neglected by vehicle users for a very long time. It is still a real tendency for users to travel to the surrounding counties to find lanes to drive/ride. However, all the surrounding counties have area GLASS groups and therefore we should keep our attentions on the lanes that are covered by Greater Manchester Boroughs.

This week has been quite historic for Green Lanes with the long-awaited Vehicles On Byways report being published under the heading 'Making The Best of Byways'. It has also seen the forming of the European group CODEVER to co-ordinate the work of vehicle users in the countryside, throughout Europe. And the High Court appeal against the Secretary of State's decision in the Norton Malwead Public Inquiry.

Recently Stockport RoW department held the first of, what are to become, quarterly meetings for RoW users. This was attended by representatives of LARA, GLASS (myself) the RA, OSS, BHS and a few other local groups with no direct interest in RoW's.

Letters have been written and some replies received - we are offering help based on the joint efforts of several local organisations. There is room for extra organisations to join our efforts. We need to decide which lanes we are interested in becoming involved in and the scope of the work that we perceive that we can perform.

Beyond GLD we could continue to offer HA's the opportunity to use the resources that we have any use during GLD for the routine clearance of obstructions from all RoW's (not just vehicular routes). This will free up some of the limited RoW budget, show that we care for the entire network and that we are responsible users. Hopefully such a scheme would be formalised and standardised with all the HA's within Manchester and would be co-ordinated by one individual who is a common contact for all the HA's.

Manchester has a large number of RoW's .with vehicular rights. Many are of little direct interest to most users, however, they are/could be a valuable asset to the local environment and area. It is therefore beneficial to list all the routes that we know within Manchester, record them as either open, closed or under research. It would also be helpful to eventually publish this information on the Internet. This would lead to the promotion of urban lanes which are currently under-used and this use would relieve some pressure from the more sensitive lanes in some of the adjoining counties.

GLASS is growing without the communication happening to direct its future course. It currently has little standing amongst Highway Authorities or at a national level. If GLASS is to be a recognised force in the future then it needs to move forwards coherently. Several topics have been discussed elsewhere including: promotion of membership, increasing membership, affiliation to LARA, more formal organisation structure, etc. As a local branch, we are in a good position to promote this and by discussing our personal views on the future of GLASS we will be in a strong position to influence any decisions that the committee may make in future.

Local meetings have been arranged for the second Thursday of the month and will continue at the same venue. There is no intention to make the discussion at the meeting too formal, but a list of topics (like this sheet), is useful to outline the areas that we, as a group, are interested in. It also serves to avoid the discussions straying into other areas and therefore promotes general progress in the areas that we agree need our attentions. Any item can be added to or removed from this list at any time and a new one will be produced for each meeting. Generally the topics will be carried forward from one list to the next if it is still relevant.