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New law will curb use of off-road vehicles in the countryside
General NewsLegal curbs on the use of motorcycles, 4x4s and quad bikes on public rights of way are to be rushed through Parliament.
Motor vehicle organisations will no longer be able to claim a right of way on these routes just because they were once used by horse and carriages.The tough stance was announced yesterday by Alun Michael, Rural Affairs Minister, after receiving complaints from ramblers, dog walkers and riders who said that tracks and bridleways were being ruined by vehicles.
It costs local authorities about £15,000 to repair a kilometre of a public right of way. Mr Michael is now looking for the earliest opportunity to bring in the new legislation.
He believes that there is a place for “motor-propelled vehicles” in the countryside and has ruled out an outright ban on them. Many are used by farmers and landowners as part of their management of the landscape and for looking after livestock. Routes are also used by 4x4s and motorbikes as access roads to homes and many other tracks are used by recreational users without disturbing anyone. Mr Michael is, however, concerned about the impact on some ancient and fragile rights of way and the safety risks to ramblers, dog walkers and horse riders.
He also condemned yesterday the “macho culture” of some groups which encouraged “mud-plugging”, the term used to describe large groups driving in convoy on green lanes. He denounced as “irresponsible” the promotion of such events, which sometimes included as many as 50 vehicles and called for a change of culture.
Guidance is also to be issued to police and local authorities on how to deal with this illegal use of tracks. Mr Michael said: “We need a rights of way network that responds to the needs of the 21st century, not a network based solely on historic use patterns. The pressures of modern-day use are very different to those of a 100 or more years ago and new legislation is needed to reflect these changes.”
This means that, with a few possible exceptions, a right of way cannot suddenly become a “by-way open to all traffic” (known as a “boat”) just because the route was once used by a pony and trap. It is possible that the new laws may even be retrospective to December 2003, when a consultation paper signalling a shake-up in the laws was published.
A one-year period of grace was then set to allow various groups to try to establish the historic right to use of a road. The Country, Land and Business Association fears that, without a backdating of the new law, councils will be flooded with claims to establish rights of way for motorised vehicles.
David Gardiner, chairman of the Green Lanes Environmental Action Movement, said: “The announcement is excellent news, if it works. I’m afraid it will just open the floodgates for off-roaders and trail rider groups to claim rights of way on various routes.” In Wiltshire, off-roaders have already prepared 2,000 applications for rights of way.
Tim Stevens, of the Land Access and Recreational Association, an umbrella body for groups representing motor vehicles, said: “We are already working with police and local authorities and there may be no need at all for any draconian laws.”
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