Horse riders step up campaign to curb off-road vehicles in park

The “Peak Horsepower” campaign group, established last year, says riders have been excluded from some bridleways and byways as surfaces have been damaged by 4x4s and trail bikes, making them dangerous.

The group also says it feels “let down” by Derbyshire County Council, which is legally responsible for highways in the area.

A spokesman for Peak Horsepower said they are calling on the authority to stop off-road vehicles using unsurfaced highways where they are “rendered unusable or dangerous for other people”; to take “active steps” to prevent illegal off-roading; to put in new signs and also to work with the police to “achieve successful prosecution of illegal off-roaders.”

Derbyshire County Council is currently in the process of rewriting its strategy on “motorised vehicle use in the countryside.”

The revised policy will be presented to cabinet members at a meeting tomorrow and, if approved, will then be put out to a 12-week public consultation.

A Peak Horsepower spokesman said: “Members have seen plenty of illegal off-roading and vandalism of signs.

“We know that Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park Authority know about these problems too.”

“Compared to other parts of the country, the Peak District has few bridleways. We depend on byways and unclassified roads – the very routes which are being so badly damaged by off-roading.

“The overall effect of the damage to tracks being done by off-roading and the fear of accidents caused by off-roaders is that, throughout the Peak District, horse riders are now unable to use legal rights of way that have always been safe in the past.

“Peak Horsepower has been forced to the sad conclusion that Derbyshire County Council places greater emphasis on managing the needs and rights of off-road vehicle users than it does on the safety and rights of way of other users.

“It’s time for Derbyshire County Council to act. Off-road vehicles are being allowed to, literally, drive horse riders off the tracks and bridleways.”

The revised policy being considered by Derbyshire County Council tomorrow says that the authority intends to “protect opportunities for recreational driving where conflict with other types of use is kept to a minimum.”

It says that £70,000 has been set aside to improve some routes, of which £30,000 will be used within the Peak District national park.

The remainded of the cash will be spent on Long Causeway at Stanage, work in Bonsall, and at School Lane in Great Hucklow.

The council also says it will consider bringing in traffic regulation orders (TROs) which ban certain types of vehicles from routes, where “no other reasonable solution exists” and “the safety of other users is compromised through continued use by vehicles.”

A TRO has already been introduced on Chapel Gate, near Edale, and such orders are also being considered on School Lane, and Bradley Lane in Pilsley.

A spokeswoman for Derbyshire County Council said: “Everyone has a right to get out and enjoy Derbyshire’s countryside and there are routes which we have a legal duty to maintain for vehicles to use.

“This policy aims to balance the interests and rights of all user groups and local communities.

“It sets out how we will maintain rights of way and manage vehicle use in the countryside over the next five years. taking into account changes in legislation and progress we’ve made since the first policy was drafted in 2003.”

Sean Prendergast, head of field services for the Peak District National Park Authority, added that the authority has a “long track record of working together with horse riders, riding groups and other bridleway users.”