As mountain bikers we’ve made a hobby out of riding rights of way of varying difficulty and surface. We also enjoy man-made trails, purpose-built for mountain bikers. Whilst what we want for off-road access can sometimes conflict with what other user groups want, there are more shared aims than I think we give credit to.
The British Horse Society (BHS) have written an access manifesto calling on the Westminster Government to increase the opportunities for more, safe off-road equestrian access. Taken directly from the BHS documents, the points below are equally relevant to the mountain bike community:
- To repeal the 2031 cut-off date – 78,000km of off-road routes are at risk of been (SIC) extinguished and lost for ever. These are public routes that exist at present but are not recorded and will be extinguished on 1st January 2031 if the cut-off date is not repealed.
- Ensuring that permanent and permissive public access options are embedded in the Environmental Land Management Scheme paying landowners also to improve and enhance existing bridleways and byways (such as rolling green lanes or leaving cross-field bridleways uncultivated) and to create parking places so that people can access and enjoy those opportunities.
- Extending the right of access, under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, to Access Land to equestrians and cyclists.
- Stop the surfacing of definitive bridleways and byways with tarmacadam unless they are within an urban environment and already tarmacked.
- Recording suitable recreational trails on the definitive map as bridleways. Currently a lot of these trails have not definitive status. Recording these as bridleways on the definitive map would ensure that they are available to more users and therefore of benefit to more people.
- Ensure that local authorities prioritise the determination of Definitive Map Modification Order applications which seek to record bridleways and byways so that more users benefit from these determinations.
This is what mountain bikers want too. If you’re lobbying your MP for better access, it’s worth focusing on these shared aims that will benefit multiple user-groups. As we’ve said before, Strength in Numbers.
Thanks to Peak District MTB member Nick Doran for sharing this info. Nick is a keen outdoor enthusiast who enjoys taking to the trails on wheels and hooves.