News on ACU website:-
New proposals governing rights of way could have a major impact on motor sport enthusiasts who need access to sites with cars or vans - and it may be too late to do anything about it.

Provisions in a Government Bill going through Parliament seek to remove rights of way for motor vehicles and restrict the recording of new ones. Despite previously proposing a timescale for users of minor highways to check the records and confirm their right of way, the Government is now proposing to backdate the new rules to May this year.

According to LARA, the Land Access and Recreation Association, the result will bear on many motor sport organisers and competitors and others using the countryside for sport and recreation may find that minor roads - including some tarmac roads - which they have been using for years for access to sites for practice days and events are closed to motors.




Continuing to use them could result in prosecution. Tim Stevens from LARA says: "The Government had originally allowed 25 years to sort out the rights of way maps, which are currently in a real mess.

At the beginning of this year, the Minister was under pressure to reduce this for motorists, but promised 'a reasonable period of notice', and the Government now threatens to go back on its word by making the regulations retrospective, closing the door even to existing claims.

The result will be that recreational users of the countryside who need to use motors for access will now find their rights arbitrarily extinguished and there will be nothing they can do about it." The move by the Government is an attempt to crack down on so-called scramblers and others who illegally drive or ride where they should not.

LARA supports this objective of the legislation, as long as legitimate users are first given the chance to verify their own existing rights. LARA is calling on the Government to keep its promise to allow a period of time for the records to be checked and rights of way verified.

As Tim Stevens says: "In not allowing records to be corrected, the Government will only penalise responsible users of country lanes who want to keep within the law. The proposal will have no impact on those who flout rights of way and churn up country lanes." LARA calls on all who may be affected by these regulations to lobby the Government and their local MP by pointing out how they could lose their established access for legitimate motor sport - not merely on the lanes themselves, but on access roads including some which are tarmac

Notes: ** The proposals are contained in Clauses 61 & 62 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill which is currently going though the House of Lords. ** Under the Countryside Rights of Way Act 2000, the Government sought to clarify the Definitive Map of rights of way for vehicles, walkers and horse riders. A deadline of 25 years was set for all users to verify a right of way or lose it. ** The Government then proposed in 2003 to curtail this exercise as far as vehicle rights of way were concerned, by establishing a cut-off date one year from the commencement of new legislation, after which any unrecorded rights of way for vehicles would be lost.

In its response in January 2005 to the Consultation, the Government said: "We believe that it is fair to provide a reasonable period of notice before implementing the legislation." A time period is required because of the lack of accurate and up to date records and the time taken for applicants and local authorities to make checks. ** The Government announced on 10 November that not only would there be no more time for claims to be made once the legislation is introduced, but that no claims for rights of way made since 19 May (when the legislation was announced) would be allowed, apart from establishing private access to people's own property.

LARA, the Motoring Organisations' Land Access and Recreation Association, is the national forum for the principal groups involved in responsible countryside motor sport and recreation. It brings together all the governing bodies and major organisations involved with motor sport in the countryside. For further information, please contact: - Tim Stevens at LARA on 01630 657627, or email: larahq@aol.com - Geoffrey Lawler on 0113 278 0211 or email: pac@publicaffairsco.com
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