The Green Laning Debate

4x4s, quad bikes and motorbikes have been using byways and bridleways as personal off road tracks for years. These lanes are often disused, not maintained or owned by anyone and practically inaccessible to other traffic. This is called Green Laning.

The Recent Debate about Green Laning with 4x4 cars.

This subject has caused a dilemma for me in recent weeks. As a keen off road driver, I regularly attend track days at various courses around the country, and have been green laning quite a few times in the past years. But for some reason, the recent battles over lane closures in Hampshire have left me wondering who I should be siding with - 4x4 drivers or who?.

Three lanes in Hampshire were shut down last month after a number of complaints from local residents claiming they had been disturbed on countless occasions by 4x4s and dirt bikes driving down these lanes. A lot of these byways and bridleways are inaccessible to other traffic and only rarely used by horse riders and ramblers, which in my opinion do not disturb the peace of the countryside on any level. So having off road vehicles using these lanes near your home on a regular basis would become quite irritating, and if it was me I probably would have complained by now too.

Environmentalists have had their say too, claiming these vehicles damage the countryside, cause excessive amounts of noise and air pollution and disturb the wildlife. Understandable, but these lanes are muddy, rocky, overgrown, not maintained and rarely used by anyone, not beautiful, serene countryside walkways.

This has sparked discussions about other lanes like these all over the country. Should all byways and bridleways be completely closed to all traffic? Should lanes near housing areas be closed? Could some lanes be re-opened for all traffic to use - including 4x4 vehicles?

So what about the people that everyone has been complaining about? Do they think they are in the wrong? I spoke to a group of off roading enthusiasts recently to ask them their opinion.
‘We have been green laning for over 20 years and it has never been a problem until recently. The lanes we use are not private property and we never drive recklessly and tear up the lanes.’
‘We understand that people might be disturbed by our vehicles so we only use lanes that are well away from where people live.’
‘We are only trying to have fun; we didn’t set out to cause a big riot over it’.

Now, there are potential problems whichever way you go with this. There are no laws preventing road legal vehicles using these lanes. If they are re-opened to traffic, councils will have to maintain them. It would be a colossal task deciding which lanes should be shut down; I know I wouldn’t want the job.
Honestly, I still cannot decide where I stand on this issue as I partially agree with all parties involved. I guess it’ll just be a matter of time to see how far everyone is prepared to go to prove they are in the right.

The Green Laning Debate

Copyright kent4x4Offroading.co.uk © 2010