open access for wales?

welshkev

in my opinion most people ride where they like anyway and are respectful of land owners and other users, but here could be the right to do it legally:

http://singletrackworld.com/2012/05/ope ... for-wales/

bails87

It would be excellent if that happened, would hopefully put some pressure on the people who rule over us schmucks in England to do the same!

Clank

bails87 wrote:

It would be excellent if that happened, would hopefully put some pressure on the people who rule over us schmucks in England to do the same!

I wouldn't hold your breath.

bails87

No, course not, but it's another straw on the camel's back....

bennett_346

Can't see it ever happening in England if im honest. Not in this century or the next few anyway.

Anonymous

Attitudes are heavily against mountain bikers in England. It's not like a bunch of nature loving warriors against the nasty land owners, it's scruffy drunken hooligan vandals against the land owners and the nature loving warriors.

Need a lot of improvement on the image of MTB and have to show them we're all on the same side.

Then we do the mass trespass

But to be honest, rights of way are not really what I want to ride anyway. They're fairly dull.

diy

I actually think it could result in more restrictions rather than more freedom.

If you read the consultation it does not talk about a presumed right to roam (which is really what MTBers want) it talks about placing a burden and duty upon local authorities to make provisions.

It therefore stands to reason that any such provision to increase authorised routes will be met with calls to reduce unauthorised access. It also places a burden on the council for the safety of these routes. That in itself will lead to closures. Since the council will declare an unofficial, but challenging trail as unsafe and close it.

All we need is an amendment to The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to include cycling as a recognised form of roaming.

Briggo

diy wrote:

I actually think it could result in more restrictions rather than more freedom.

If you read the consultation it does not talk about a presumed right to roam (which is really what MTBers want) it talks about placing a burden and duty upon local authorities to make provisions.

It therefore stands to reason that any such provision to increase authorised routes will be met with calls to reduce unauthorised access. It also places a burden on the council for the safety of these routes. That in itself will lead to closures. Since the council will declare an unofficial, but challenging trail as unsafe and close it.

All we need is an amendment to The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to include cycling as a recognised form of roaming.

I agree however in the current economic climate, tourism (and in the form of MTB'ers) is vital to Wales which is why they have been pumping so much money into the sport recently.

Which may persuade LA's to act upon this and take advantage to lure in more folks to increase tourism, maybe.

YeehaaMcgee

deadkenny wrote:

Attitudes are heavily against mountain bikers in England.

I was talking about this with a group of friends last year, and how attitudes have changed in about a decade in Wales.
It used to be the case that you would be shouted at, or treated as a hooligan for riding an MTB, well, anywhere.
But recently, it occurred to us that we generally get a cheery "hello" from most farmers these days, and the stigma seems to have gone.

Anonymous

That's true, at least from most the people out walking their dogs and hiking about, they're usually happy to say hello and often joke about how unfit I look , but places I ride are generally open access and it's just accepted that mountain bikes are about. I don't think the farmers are all that bothered either so long as their crops aren't destroyed or herds bothered.

The problem I've seen has more been from certain locals who've been used to the land they walk on being "theirs" exclusively. A few cases we've had locally that have even got press coverage (where the "drunken swearing hooligans" bit came from. Not that I've seen anyone drunk on a mountain bike). We've had incidents of wires across trails also, though who's done it is not known, and a case of an irate ranger going over the top and calling the police over established trails that the Nat Trust had essentially sanctioned previously and it stoking the fires of a number of NIMBYs with the press coverage being firmly negative towards bikes. There's some resentment even that one of the local charity groups that maintains some of the lands now has a growing number of mountain bikers as members, despite the fact they're donating money to it!

Problem is, some of the bigger voices are influential locally if not at a political level. Mountain bikers on the other hand have little representation.

bennett_346

The reason it won't happen isn't because of problems between ramblers/walkers/farmers and mtb'er, its more issues from up top and beaurocratic nonsense. Land law in the UK is a horrible mess.

YeehaaMcgee

Oh god, DK, I'd forgotten about those stories of the cheeswire across trails that happened down south. That kind of stuff really is shocking.
No law change will ever stop that particular kind of nutter though, unfortunately.

bails87

I very occasionally ride at the Wyre Forest. According to local riders someone is regularly putting logs across the trails, especially on the fast bits and around blind bends, seemingly in an attempt to make any log/biker collision as nasty as possible.

FFS, just put a notice up, or patrol the routes if you think people are riding illegally and if bugs you that much. Setting out to deliberately hurt people is.....well, someone should replace his/her limes with pineapples!

YeehaaMcgee

or hand grenades.