Minister presses for 'green lane' curbs on off-road drivers
By George Jones, Political Editor and David Sapsted
(Filed: 16/08/2004)
Curbs on off-road vehicles, quad bikes and motorcycles using bridleways and
footpaths in the countryside are to be proposed in the autumn.
Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, wants to prevent motor vehicles
gaining access to "green lanes" that have traditionally been used by horses
and carts.
The aim is to close a legal loophole that allows historical evidence of use
by a horse and cart, or dedication as a carriageway before the invention of
the motor car, to be used to make a claim for a byway open to all traffic -
which then can be used by modern recreational motor vehicles.
Four-wheel-drive vehicles and motorcycles have caused considerable damage to
the 6,000-year-old Ridgeway in southern England and byways and other
unsurfaced routes on the Yorkshire moors and other areas of outstanding
national beauty.
There have been angry confrontations with ramblers and horse riders and
pressure is mounting at Westminster for action to protect green lanes.
Mr Michael said that unless evidence could be produced that a byway had an
existing history of use by motorised traffic, it should not be opened up to
four-wheel-drive vehicles.
"It would simply alter the rules so that you could not assert rights of way
for motorised vehicles on the basis of a horse and cart using it in 1683,"
Mr Michael said.
In future new rights of way would be restricted to their traditional use. If
they had been used by horses, they would become bridleways. If only used by
walkers, they would become footpaths.
The Government's proposals will be outlined in a response to a consultation
document on the future use of unsurfaced byways open to all traffic which is
expected to be published next month or in October.
Mr Michael, who received 15,000 submissions to the consultation document,
made clear that the rules needed to be updated.
Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, people have until 2026 to
assert claims for a right of way and get them included on a definitive map.
Mr Michael wants to impose a much shorter time limit for claims for a
"higher right of way" - enabling motor vehicles to use a track.
The Government is expected to confirm that it intends to introduce a cut-off
date a year from the start of new legislation when it would no longer be
possible to establish a "byway open to all traffic" on the evidence of past
use by non-mechanically propelled vehicles.
Mr Michael told The Daily Telegraph that he was anxious to allow responsible
use of off-road vehicles. "I have challenged the four-by-four users and
motorcycle groups to recognise that there is a problem and be part of the
solution rather than part of the problem," he said.
Campaigners who have been fighting to save the Ridgeway, which runs for 87
miles from Buckinghamshire to Wiltshire, yesterday welcomed the move as
"long overdue".
"The current situation that allows off-road vehicles to churn up a route
designed for horse and cart is a legal nonsense," said Peter Gould, the
secretary of the Friends of Ridgeway organisation.
Meanwhile, the Government is expected to propose action to improve the
management of countryside rights of way. Mr Michael would like to establish
a "hierarchy" of rights of way, so that people knew what they could be used
for, and certain routes to be closed when weather conditions made them
susceptible to damage.