Not everyone hates us

[fallenmikethebike]

I was recently invited to a meeting of local Byways user groups SBUG for short' and as the title would suggest it is a loose amalgamation of all those with an interest in using and maintaining the right to use the limited boats we have left.
My preconceptions of what i would find were so far off base i was taken aback quite frankly.
The horse/carriage driving lady though who at first appeared As a dowager type empress was the most outspoken in the defence of our right to use all byways 'and to her reasonable noise wasn't a problem and indeed some noise was welcomed as a warning of our approach so as not to spook the horses and in her words the worse users in her opinion were the mountain bikers who approached at great speed and in virtual silence .
The council representative whilst not being entirely bike friendly [though he did at least fess up to having owned a bike in the dim and distant past and used it on local lanes] wasn't entirely anti either.
Most importantly he was prepared to listen to a well structured argument but didn't broach any crap from nimbys or vested interested local councillors.
Unfortunatlly for the new 4 x 4 rep the whole agenda consisted of complaints about 4 x 4 inappropriate activity and hardly any about bikers except the usual MX wrecks piloted by the local "do as you likey's "which the council rep accepted were not going to influenced by any of our concerns or worries.
I have to admit that for me the highlight of the evening was when the established members of the committee relayed the story as to why the .R.A. REP was not welcomed any more'which involved him trying to take the county council to court because of their not yielding to his demands for some byways to be downgraded to footpath status or his threats of issuing an out of repair notice on the council[ who were by the way his employers] what a cnut .
I was surprised at the officers insistance that people who chose live on a byway had little grounds for complaint as long as the byways were used in a responsible fashion i e as we as members of the TRF advocate in the code of conduct .
It was also quite heartening to see the rapport the TRF rep had attained through reasoned argument over a sustained period of time .
whilst we are probably unlikely to win back any lost ROWs we were probably not going to lose to many more just on a nod and wink basis to the vested ' moneyed' self interest groups.
I know quite a few of the forumites who communicate on here already have or represent a user group if you don't have one yet in your area it might just be worth trying to set one up' at worse you may be ignored but at least you have been seen to try.At best you may slow down or stop the steady eroding of usable byways.

Closing down legal lanes isn't going to stop us riding whats left any more than shutting pubs is going to stop people drinking .Just like during the prohibition in America ways and means are found to give people their fix of thier chosen drug .
For the 4 x 4 guys that means a sanctioned pay and play area that has full planning consent and could be turned into a going concern .There are land owners out there crying out to diversify into projects like this 'and it would carry a balance sheet bonus for councils whose repair bills for 4 x 4 damage would be alleiviated at a stroke .

[slider]

amen brother mike,nice to hear some good news for a change

[Gwyn]

amen brother mike,nice to hear some good news for a change

I agree

[kernow krusty]

Good on ya Mike, sounds like an evening well spent.
Have you thought about emailing your findings to TBM? Well, at least Mark Williams, he's always interested in any ROW news, and yours does, at last, have elements of a silver lining.
Also proves the value of the TRF. That rep is def on my Xmas card list!