The LARA paper on the background to the ‘closed roads for motorsport’ legislation, incorporating the MSA Process for application for a ‘closed road’ organising permit, is now available on the LARA Papers and Reports page.

Two days ago James Higgs, a motorcycle trailrider from Wiltshire, posted a 90 second helmet-cam video on his WiltshireByways YouTube channel. The video showed James meeting two horse riders on an unsealed road in Devon, and displaying exemplary conduct and good manners towards both horses and riders. It has now had 70 views on YouTube.

But James shared the video on his Facebook page and now, just 48 hours later, the video has had 470,000+ views and the Facebook post has had 16,000+ Likes/Loves, 4000+ Shares, and 1700+ Comments (virtually all of which are positive). This is quite extraordinary, and shows the huge power of social media in the modern world, but it also shows how 90 seconds of ‘good behaviour’ by one person can generate a tsunami of positive publicity for motorcyclists on green lanes.

James Higgs, LARA salutes you!

Helping a(nother) Horse Rider by Wiltshire Byways on YouTube
WiltshireByways Facebook page

We’re delighted to announce that the ACU has upgraded from Associate Member status to Full Member status with immediate effect. The ACU was one of the founding members of LARA and their return to full membership means that, once again, all four main user groups – sport / recreation and 2/3 wheels / 4 wheels – are represented at our ‘top table’. We very much look forward to working more closely with the ACU, over the coming months, on matters of mutual interest and concern. You can read the ACU Press Release here.

The MSWG had its second meeting on 6 April with a high turnout of members. The Group is now trying to find a member or observer from Wales, as many of the issues are common to both England and Wales and new environmental legislation is coming up in the Welsh Assembly in the near future. Each of the four sub-groups (traffic regulation, unsealed unclassified roads, surface standards, and unlawful / anti-social driving) now has a first draft report, and members will continue to develop these before the next meeting, currently scheduled for late June 2017. Read the background to the MSWG on the Current Activities page.

We are still looking for photographs, magazine articles, personal recollections, etc., showing everyday motoring (not competition events) on unsealed roads from circa 1980, and back as far as we can go. Read more on this page.

The ongoing dialogue between ACU/ LARA/ MSA and Powys County Council continues, and we seem to be heading slowly towards some sort of conclusion. This is taking an immense amount of time, and costing all three motorsport organisations a lot of money, but, unfortunately, we can’t give you any more details at the moment as we’re still involved in ongoing technical debate with Powys about the legal issues. Read the background on the Current Activities page.

Eagle-eyed users may have noticed that we’ve redirected LARA’s main web address – www.laragb.org – to point to this website rather than the old LARA website. You can still access the old website, should you wish, through this page.

We’ve just published a new LARA ‘paper’, as part of our submission to the MSWG, and we’d really appreciate feedback from those who can remember, or have evidence of, motoring on unsealed roads in the past. Read more on this page.

LARA has been supporting an approach to the Planning Inspectorate in Wales to alter and improve the way that participants in some rights of way orders are kept informed about crucial dates and deadlines. PINS at Cardiff has now made some very helpful changes.

When an Inspector proposes to confirm an order with modifications, those modifications often require a further round of advertisement and the opportunity to object. The period in which such objections (or representations) can be made is set out in, e.g., a ‘Notice of Proposal to Modify Definitive Map Order’.

In England, PINS sends this ‘modification notice’ directly to the participants in the order process to date. In Wales, PINS does not (until now) send the modification notice directly, instead requiring the participants to scan the local press, or to trek regularly to the order route to look for notices. Not a very practical or fair arrangement, it seemed to volunteers working in the order process.

Following correspondence based on the situation in an actual ongoing order case, PINS Cardiff has changed its processes at least as an interim measure until the Welsh Government carries out a wider review of procedures. In a letter of 13 February 2017, PINS says, “As well as allowing duly made representations from the day the interim decision is issued, we will also ask OMA’s to give us advance warning of when the notice will be advertised / the closing date for representations. This request will be included in our covering letter to OMA’s when we issue the interim decision. As soon as we receive this information it will be circulated to the relevant parties. The effectiveness of this change of procedure will of course be reliant upon each OMA responding in a timely manner and the Inspectorate cannot be held accountable should any party fail to be notified. The Inspectorate considers these to be “reasonable adjustments” in view of the 

circumstances.”

It looks like Wales will soon slide even further away from England in matters of rights of way and open access law and practice.

Written Statement – Improving Opportunities to Access the Outdoors for Recreation.

13 February 2017.

Lesley Griffiths, Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs.

Wales needs a better and fairer approach to public access for outdoor recreation which is less burdensome to administer, provides for the wide range of activities people want to participate in, with sensible safeguards for land management activities. I intend to develop proposals for consultation on how the current laws could be improved.

Following a broad based review of the legislative framework for access and outdoor recreation, the Welsh Government undertook a consultation in 2015 on improving opportunities to access the outdoors for responsible recreation.  The consultation paper examined the current legislative framework for access to the outdoors and encouraged discussion on a sliding scale of potential options, including making improvements and removing some of the restrictions in place under current access legislation, extending the definition of access land to include other areas and implementing a new legislative framework.

Almost 5800 responses to the consultation were received.

Throughout the process, stakeholders have been invited to give their views on the benefits and constraints of the current system and to suggest how it could be improved to support greater opportunities for public access to the outdoors, establish a consistent approach to rights and enforcement and reduce burdens on Local Authorities and land managers.

The consultation responses provided a wealth of information about the types of recreational activities occurring across Wales, primarily in rural and urban fringe areas.  They also provided an insight into the challenges faced by land managers, existing users and commercial interests due to the limitations of the existing statutory framework.

Most of the responses were of the view the current system is too complex and burdensome.

There were strong, and sometimes polarised, views about how it might be improved.

I have carefully considered the issues raised by the consultation responses. There are several reasons why I believe it is necessary to consider how the laws in this area could be reformed.

The legislative framework needs to be more coherent.  Paths and areas of access land have different rules and regulations on who can go there and what activities are allowed, which may have no relationship to the actual conditions on the ground.

There is unnecessary inconsistency in the way paths and places open to the public are currently recorded, changed, and restricted.

The law needs to reflect current recreational needs and be more flexible to changes in demand and participation. It is currently too difficult to make changes to public access, either to increase it or restrict it.

There is an enduring dispute over the rights of those participating in water recreation on individual rivers and lakes. A resolution should be pursued to establish clarity in this area and to have greater consistency with how other access areas and activities are dealt with.

For these reasons I will consult on proposals for making improvements in three key areas:

Achieving consistency in the opportunities available for participation in different activities and how activities are restricted and regulated;

Simplifying and harmonising procedures for designating and recording public access;

Improving existing advisory forums and how access rights and responsibilities are communicated to all interests.

A fit for purpose model for Wales would support the achievement of several key commitments set out in Taking Wales Forward, including, to reduce sedentary lifestyles, promote Green Growth and develop a ‘Made in Wales’ approach reflecting Welsh needs and aspirations. It would also help to fulfil statutory obligations under the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the Active Travel Act.

Whilst we can learn from approaches already in use in other countries, Wales requires laws which suit its cultural and physical landscape. The Welsh Government has undertaken significant engagement with stakeholders, therefore, we are very aware of the concerns of landowners and the aspirations of access users.

Outdoor recreation already makes a significant contribution to the economy and generates considerable health and social benefits for the population.  This has been demonstrated most recently by the success of the Wales Coast Path, which has already increased Wales’ profile in relation to activity tourism at home and abroad. We now have the opportunity to build on this success.

Read the MSA’s statement about ‘Vnuk’ in this extract from the January 2017 issue of MSA Extra.