The damage caused by public access.

[Sam Thompson]

Spending a lot of time doing management work on high ground estates (grouse moors, hill farms etc.) at the moment and seeing more and more of the damage caused on/near public access routes by walkers, bikes, horses, motor bikes and 4x4s.

 

Interestingly the people that seem to cause the most damage are those on foot and mountain bikers. It is the public footpaths really get the hammering, sometimes 15ft wide without any vegitation but soil. The "green lanes" used by the powered lot have more rutted damage but normally only one set of tyre marks.

 

When stopped because they are not on ROW walkers tend to be aggressive and the horse riders apologetic, I'm yet to find any motor powered stuff "off piste" as such, compared to 13 lots of walkers.

 

Can someone explain how its big noisy 4x4s that are killing the countryside? Why is there nothing in place to educate the walkers?

[Beardie]

It's probably a case of relative numbers. Thousands of ramblers compared to a few dozen motorists. That explains why you saw 13 lots of walkers, but no motorbikes or 4x4s. It takes an awful lot of boots to do the damage done by one set of off-road tyres.

[Matthew Arnold]

Spending a lot of time doing management work on high ground estates (grouse moors, hill farms etc.) at the moment and seeing more and more of the damage caused on/near public access routes by walkers, bikes, horses, motor bikes and 4x4s.

 

Interestingly the people that seem to cause the most damage are those on foot and mountain bikers. It is the public footpaths really get the hammering, sometimes 15ft wide without any vegitation but soil. The "green lanes" used by the powered lot have more rutted damage but normally only one set of tyre marks.

 

When stopped because they are not on ROW walkers tend to be aggressive and the horse riders apologetic, I'm yet to find any motor powered stuff "off piste" as such, compared to 13 lots of walkers.

 

1 -Can someone explain how its big noisy 4x4s that are killing the countryside? 2 - Why is there nothing in place to educate the walkers?

 

 

 

1 - It does seem strange red sock, gaitor wearing brigade tar all 4x4 users wit hthe same brush. They claim that we are destroying the countryside when it is infact just a small minority (mud pluggers) that go well off piste and chew up private woodlands just for a thrill. There are hundreds of off-road groups throughout the UK which all have Codes of Practice. The National groups (GLASS -http://www.glass-uk.org/ , LARA - index ) are always campaigning for lanes to be opened and not closed. Yet it is the walkers that get upset when a local UCR,Byway,ORPA gets opened up so off roaders can drive up and down it.

 

2 - There is the Green Cross Code but unfortunately alot of the ramblers point the blame at the councils for not waymarking the routes clearly enough. The trouble is the majority of the jobs i get are reported through members of the public and they are prioritised by what the member of the public puts down (e.g Broken stile - Priority 5, Stile has barbed wire showing across top rail, foot tread is split and dangerous - Priority 3). And because it has been reported they expect the stile to repaired within 24 hours which sadly isn't the case as most RoW teams have a massive backlog.

[Sam Thompson]

It's probably a case of relative numbers. Thousands of ramblers compared to a few dozen motorists. That explains why you saw 13 lots of walkers, but no motorbikes or 4x4s. It takes an awful lot of boots to do the damage done by one set of off-road tyres.

 

No, I have only come across 13 groups of walkers tresspassing compared to 0 4x4s, and 3 horses. The greenlane going over one part of the moor is very popular with the local landrover club and other people on motor bikes and 4x4s. Never had any problem with them going off the routes. I suppose it might be because they are more likely to get banned, so are more carefull - they seem to see it as a gift rather than a "you cant get rid of me, this is a public foopath" that walkers have.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

theres two sides to this story, ive seen landowners deliberatley try to make footpaths "dificult" to stop people using them.

 

let us not forget these are public rights of way and if no one walks them within a year so i am told the right is lost, so much is this siezed on groups actively walk a set of routes to ensure the accses is maintained.

 

we are the worst nation for being possessive over lands, lets not tar all walkers with the same brush for the sake of 13 individuals, against how many others who stick and know the path and code of conducts of the countryside?

[treequip]

theres two sides to this story, ive seen landowners deliberatley try to make footpaths "dificult" to stop people using them.

 

let us not forget these are public rights of way and if no one walks them within a year so i am told the right is lost, so much is this siezed on groups actively walk a set of routes to ensure the accses is maintained.

 

we are the worst nation for being possessive over lands, lets not tar all walkers with the same brush for the sake of 13 individuals, against how many others who stick and know the path and code of conducts of the countryside?

 

That’s wrong, pretty much, once a ROW always a ROW.

 

Just recently the Peak District National park have spent fortunes repairing the Pennine Way (and other moorland paths), this is purely due to foot erosion.

 

The path was as much as 200m wide in places, a true victim of it’s own popularity. It's had to be boardwalked in places which the purists in the red sock brigade didnt like much but hey ho.

[Mike Hill]

Surely in pre Automotive times,the green lanes in the Countryside were anything but Green?If everyone had to walk then,surely they would have been churned up.

 

So why isn't the damage visable today?

[Andy Collins]

I agree with Mike, many of the ROW go back centuries, way before the advent of powered transport. Vehicular erosion is very minimal, off metalled roads compared to walkers damage. as said, many of the greenlaners stick to official routes whereas the hikers will walk wherever they decide they want to go. We are lucky around here, paths are good, farmers allow walking anywhere around the field margins so long as the dogs are on leads, and it doesn't seem to be abused too much.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Surely in pre Automotive times,the green lanes in the Countryside were anything but Green?If everyone had to walk then,surely they would have been churned up.

 

So why isn't the damage visable today?

 

for the same reason the collision that wiped out the dinosaurs cant be seen now! ecological time

[Graham]

Most automotive users of green lanes do behave and see their access as a privilege not a right There are exceptions. In the Peaks 4x4 users have dismantled walls used the stones as infill to reduce big rock steps. There is also a problem with illegal bikes ...affectionately known as 'tossers on crossers' but all in all it's not too bad.

 

Unfortunately most ramblers who choose to walk a public road ie 'green lane' seem to think they are the only ones with rights to do so. They'll even deride those who are just out for a stroll and complain that a farmer using it for access to his own land is causing damage.

 

All the groups of motorcyclists I know, myself included, will use local businesses for fuel, food, drink etc. A group of five of us will spend £150 locally and the locals welcome it. Compare that to a group of hardcore ramblers who'll hog tables, buy a cup of tea and slip out their own bar of mint cake. Ask any cafe owner if they'd prefer ten bikers or twenty ramblers.

 

One other thing, because I'm rambling on a bit. You'll hear the cries of; 'they must be stopped it's a SSSI and it's being damaged'. Well it's a SSSI because of vehicles creating a niche habitat not destroying one.

 

Eventually the ramblers will win because their numbers tend to be made up of retired professionals with contacts and influence; too much time on their hands and lots of things they can complain about.