New Changes to MOD land near Aldershot and Fleet Hampshire

Huckfinn

Dear all

Some worrying changes afoot on MOD land in Hampshire

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... esentation

wilberforce

I attended this meeting last night
Actual format of meeting, which was organized by local parish council was general army presentation regarding anticipated changes (increase) in training area usage by troops due to increase of said troops and equipment returning to area from likes of Afghanistan and Germany.
Meeting was not specific to mountain biking but was then somewhat hijacked for that subject
Army position was that byelaws prohibit mountain biking and expect that to now be enforced due to increased usage, increased H&S risks, and simply that mountain biking volume had increased exponentially since the byelaws were actually written in 1976.
There are plans to update the byelaws but I did not get a positive feeling that the Army reps present were really seeking to change things for the benefit of mountain bikers - Walkers, joggers etc are permitted access to MOD land and no plans to change this.
There was mention of consultation, working groups, etc, but it seems that in the interim the Army and their delegates are still intending to increase the policing of their land against mountain bikers
TAG and other groups such as THT were represented and local press were also present so I guess we have not heard the last of this, nor do we know the true impacts yet

wilberforce

I should also add that whilst this meeting was related to the Aldershot area, the Army messaging was that this will be a national change & impact

natrix

Wilberforce wrote:

I did not get a positive feeling that the Army reps present were really seeking to change things for the benefit of mountain bikers -

I was there as well, and would support this comment