Green Road Management

Managing unsealed roads and tracks

The Lake District National Park is criss-crossed by many minor unsealed roads and tracks which are either:

Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) - the only rights of way where vehicular use is allowed
Unclassified County Roads (UCRs) - no proven vehicular rights, but motorised vehicles as well as horse and carriage have used them for the last century or more.

Recreational vehicles such as 4 Wheel Drives (4WDs) or motorbikes in the countryside raise emotive issues about noise, pollution, erosion and conflicts with other users. Please visit our Green Road Driving page for practical information.

Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006

This Act received Royal Assent on 30 March 2006 and commenced on 2 May 2006.

Sections 66 to 72 deal with rights of way.
Sections 66 and 67 relate to the Government's intention to restrict the claiming of rights of way for vehicles based on historical evidence of use by non-mechanically propelled vehicles such as horse drawn carriages.
Section 72 relates to Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) making powers for National Park Authorities.

Restrictions to mechanically-propelled vehicles on rights of way

All existing public rights of way for mechanically propelled vehicles are extinguished if:

it is over a highway which, immediately before commencement, was not shown in a definitive map and statement
or was shown in a definitive map and statement only as a footpath bridleway or restricted byway.

These may form the basis for challenges to extinguishment on certain routes. We are awaiting clarification from Defra as to the relevance of these in the Lake District National Park.

For details of what this means in practical terms, please visit our Green Road Driving page.

Claiming Byways Open to All Traffic (BOAT) status

Users will no longer be able to claim BOAT status based on historical evidence of use by non-mechanically propelled vehicles such as horse and carriage. Historical documentation such as enclosure awards, tax returns and tithe maps will no longer be valid evidence.

Claims based on historic evidence of horse and cart use will be limited to restricted byways. These carry rights on foot, horseback and for non mechanically propelled vehicles. This will ensure future use of ways will be consistent with their history.

Exemptions

There are five exemptions to extinguishment of mechanically propelled vehicular rights on dual status routes. The onus is on the user to prove that rights should not be extinguished, based on one or more of the exemptions. Until then, mechanically propelled vehicular rights remain extinguished. More details are to be found at NERC Act Details (PDF format, opens in new window).

The Trail Riders Fellowship has submitted claims for three routes - Garburn Pass, Walna Scar and the Claife Shire Road - based on these exemptions.

Upgrade of routes to Byways Open to All Traffic (BOAT) status

Claims to upgrade dual status routes to BOAT status will not be allowed unless they were submitted before 20 January 2005. This was the publication date for the Government's Framework for Action on the use of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles on Rights of Way.

The Trails Riders Fellowship submitted some BOAT claims to the Lake District National Park Authority, but none before 20 January 2005. We will still investigate these claims, but they will not be allowed to proceed to full BOAT status. The highest rights to be applied will be restricted byway.

Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) making powers

From 1 October 2007 we have been given powers by Defra to make TROs on all unsealed roads within the National Park, including Unclassified County Roads (UCRs), rather than ask Cumbria County Council to do this on our behalf.

The Hierarchy of Trail Routes

The Hierarchy of Trail Routes is a management approach for the level of activity on green roads through voluntary restraint rather than statutory legislation. Usually highway authorities assess evidence from users as to whether a right of way should have higher or lesser rights than shown on the Definitive Map. This is time consuming, costly, does nothing to help manage use on the ground and does not apply to UCRs as these are not included on the Definitive Map.

In 1995 a meeting with the motoring organisation’s Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) and Cumbria County Council (as highway authority) discussed the management of 4WD activity in the National Park leading to the Hierarchy of Trails.

The aim of the Hierarchy is not to promote or stop use but to eliminate irresponsible use. Between 1995 and 1997 over 100 unsealed UCRs and BOATs were identified and surveyed by Rangers and local users, and then categorised by overall condition, likelihood of conflict with other users, proximity to buildings and livestock, and narrowness.

There is a three-colour code system:

Green routes - proceed with caution:
Sustainable for recreational motor traffic at all times. Recorded use is minimal and no problems or valid complaints over vehicular use identified. Some green routes may be short dead end routes where no or little use has been recorded. Turning may be a special problem.
Amber routes - proceed with special care and attention and follow advice given by signs:
Subject to moderate levels of use by recreational motor vehicles and a greater degree of sensitivity and responsibility is necessary to drive or ride them. They may also be used by walkers, cyclists and horse-riders, pass by houses, go through farmyards or close to stock pens or the surface may mean use by recreational motor vehicles is unsustainable in all weathers.
Red routes - proceed only with great care and follow advice on signs explaining special controls in place:
Experience significant use, attract the greatest number of complaints regarding vehicular use, under the greatest pressure and are subject to the greatest conflict between users and users and the environment. Some routes cross the high fells and are badly eroded. Recreational vehicle users are asked to comply with voluntary restraint controls. For example 4x4s will be advised not to use certain routes, one way traffic will be recommended on others or users may be asked not to use a route between holiday dates when it is heavily used by walkers and horse-riders.

Green routes are surveyed once a year while the amber and red routes are surveyed twice each year by joint teams of National Park staff and representatives of vehicle user groups. Red routes are monitored in detail for levels of vehicular use. Changes in condition or the number of complaints could lead to a route being moved into a different colour code. Lack of compliance with the voluntary restraints on the red routes may lead to more restrictive legal controls through Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs).

Management of routes includes maintenance and repair, such as large-scale drainage and re-surfacing projects by our field teams and private contractors. Maintenance tasks are carried out by volunteers and local users acting as voluntary lengthsmen.

The Partners

The lead partners are:

The Lake District National Park Authority
Cumbria County Council, as highway authority
LARA - Land Access and Recreation Association - as the umbrella organisation representing all groups involved in recreational green road driving.

All users are heavily involved in decisions through the Hierarchy of Trail Routes Group. This consultative group comprises members of local 4WD and motorcycle clubs, LARA and commercial operators and uses peer pressure to influence particular troublespots. It also acts as a forum for raising awareness among users and positive relationships with land managers and the highway authority. It also provides a pool of manpower for voluntary maintenance work and direct access for us and the County Council to known representatives.

Through the Cumbria Countryside Access Partnership we are setting up a mechanically propelled vehicles Advisory Group. This will meet in spring 2008.