Off-road driving on unsurfaced, rural tracks is a fast-growing activity; a cause for alarm for those concerned with the conservation and protection of the countryside.
The Ramblers view is that motorised use of rights of way, for sport, is rarely appropriate and that vulnerable users - pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians and horse and carriage drivers - should be able to enjoy the rights of way network away from as much motor traffic as possible.
From Kent to Caerphilly, through the Chilterns and the Cheviots, there are scores of examples of damage by trail bikes and 4x4s. In many cases the problem is causing the exclusion of non-motorised users, for whom many unsurfaced tracks (often referred to as green lanes) are becoming impassable, dangerous and unpleasant. Even national trails such as the Ridgeway and the Pennine Bridleway (pictured above) have not escaped unscathed.
As part of a coalition of interested organisations, the Green Lanes Protection Group (GLPG), the Ramblers' Association successfully lobbied for a piece of legislation now contained in Part 6 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.
Put simply, the legislation - which came into effect in May 2006 - has reduced the scale of the motor vehicle threat to green lanes by restricting the number of Byways Open to all Traffic which can be claimed. Read more about the legislation in our advice note: Byways, restricted byways and other tracks.
Although reduced by the new legislation, recreational use of unsurfaced tracks by off-road vehicles still goes on: whether it be legally on the remaining BOATs, or illegally on green lanes and other rights of way which do not carry vehicular rights. The challenge for local authorities and the police is to enforce the law in these often remote locations, or, where motor vehicle use is lawful but clearly inappropriate, to manage the situation through restrictions.
That's where you come in...
- Sign a government petition to ban all off-roading in national parks.
- Report any problems to the responsible body: the highway authority (i.e the park authority, county council or unitary authority for the area), and to the police
- Lobby the local authority to impose a traffic regulation order (TRO)
- Make a complaint to the police under the Police Reform Act 2002
- Persuade the highway authority to apply to the magistrates' court to extinguish the vehicular rights on the ground that they are unnecessary.
- Ask the highway authority to apply to the Secretary of State for an order under s. 249 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to extinguish the vehicular rights.
And don't forget to report the problem to us too!
A host of information and guidance on the issue of mechanically-propelled vehicles in the countryside can be found on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website.
The Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement (GLEAM) has information on its website about the protection of green lanes.
