MTB

Hexhamshire Common in Northumberland featured in mbr's Britain's Best Mountain Bike Rides supplement.
I could have wept last week as I pushed my bike for two miles along what was once entertaining, sandy singletrack; now converted into a twenty foot wide morass of motorbike ruts.

I urge anyone who feels strongly about this to contact the Rights of Way officer at Northumberland County Council, webenquiries@northumberland.gov.uk .

Let's not lose our best riding to a handful of selfish morons who tear up the trails without a thought for anyone else.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park have put an 18 month ban on off-road vehicles, including motorbikes, using certain green lanes in its area.

Suggest to them Northumberland try a similar ban.

The thing is, there is already a ban - these are bridleways, not roads.

If the above is correct and they are only Bridleway, then it is already illegal to use a motor vehicle. Encourage the local council or police to prosecute. The local TRF might also like to know about it and may be able to help discourage illegal use.

Pennine, what makes you think that someone already breaking the law will take any notice of an "experimental" TRO or any other kind of concocted ban?

Do you mean the track from Harwoodshield to Allendale? If so, I remember that as having always been used by crossers. Same with Broadway, (although to a lesser extent). A lot of them have permission from the (rich middle eastern) landowners to take the bikes up there outside of the shooting season, so unfortunately there's little else we can do about it, other than to pester the council into making sure the tracks are properly maintained.

Of more use would be a campaign to stop the owners of Stobby Lea farm from preventing bikes from using the bridleway through their property. I know lots of people who've been threatened by the tennants if they did not head back out to the road.

Personally, I have a problem with banning vehicles from green lanes. They are legally entitled to use them, just as we are entitled to ride on bridleways. Banning them may just be the first step on the road to banning bikes from bridleways (and green lanes).

Here's a reply from the Rights of Way Officer....seems it's legal to ride motorbikes on a Bridleway if you think there may be some ancient right to do this (established by ancient motorbikers I suppose).....in future, I'll ride my mountain bike on all the footpaths and claim the defence that I'm claiming "higher rights"!


Public Rights of Way

Parish of Hexhamshire, Public Bridleway No's 52, 53, 54

Parish of Allendale, Public Bridleway No's 58 59

Thank you for your e-mail to John McErlane dated 09 November 2004, relating to motorcycle use on a number of Bridleway routes on Hexhamshire Common. Your e-mail has been passed to me for investigation/action.

The situation relating to vehicular use on Public Bridleways is quite complex. Although a route may be recorded on the Definitive Map as a Public Bridleway, this does not preclude the possibility that higher (i.e. vehicular) rights may exist. In fact this is the situation with the Broad Way, where historical vehicular rights have been claimed; if successful, the claim would result in the route being re-classified as a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT).

The riding of motorcycles on a Public Bridleway is an offence under the Road Traffic Act 1988 section 34. Responsibility for enforcement rests with Northumbria Police, however I understand that there have been difficulties in successfully prosecuting individuals on this basis. Recent amendments under the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 Schedule 7 are specifically intended to make it easier to prosecute anyone driving a motor vehicle on ways recorded as footpaths or bridleways on the Definitive Map. It is to be hoped that these amendments will be used to good effect where vehicular rights do not exist.

The County Council, as the Highway Authority, have a duty to maintain the surface of Public Rights of Way to a standard appropriate to their status. In doing so, we must take into account the nature and character of the route, as well as the expected level of use. A degree of seasonality is also to be expected, and the wet summer is likely to have caused a deterioration in the condition of the surface of many of the popular moorland routes.

We are currently in the process of developing a strategy, which will enable us to approach the management of such situations in a coherent and consistent way. This strategy is guided by the DETR recommendations on management of Byways, and includes a combination of monitoring, repairs & preventative maintenance, voluntary restraint notices, and regulation (e.g. through Traffic Regulation Orders) if other measures prove unsuccessful.

It is some time since I fully inspected the routes to which you refer; I intend to survey all these routes in the near future to assess their condition. I will contact you again when I have done this; in the mean-time if you have any additional queries or wish to discuss the matter further, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours Sincerely

Andrew Hamer
Area Countryside Officer

Countryside Service
Environment & Public Protection Directorate
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth NE61 2EF



Telephone: 01670 533196