Forest cycling debate: Verderers demand prosecution for persistent offenders as cyclists slam existing network

CYCLISTS who persistently stray from waymarked tracks onto fragile areas of the New Forest should face prosecution, the verderers have demanded.

Speaking out at a recent session of the Verderers' Court, Official Verderer Lord Manners highlighted how conservation volunteers had reported over 700 instances of off-track cycling this summer.

He denied being "anti-cycling" but called on Forestry England to take legal action to deter rule-breakers eroding paths and disturbing nature.

Lord Manners said: “The verderers have over many years expressed to Forestry England their concerns over the ever increasing amount of cyclists who regularly trespass off the approved cycle routes.”

Demanding that the issue should no longer be treated as a “low priority”, he said complaints had been made to the New Forest's Deputy Surveyor Craig Harrison and directly to the chair of Forestry England, Sir William Worsley.

Lord Manners said the New Forest was a working habitat, shaped by commoners' animals over hundreds of years, and it was important that the most tranquil areas could be preserved.

He said pressure would continue to increase as more houses were built on the edges of the national park, with mountain bikes and electric bicycles opening up access to wider sections of the Forest.

“Headlamps now throw a beam many metres ahead which can be seen far away. These facilitate more night cycling, apparently regardless of the impact on nocturnal animals,” said Lord Manners.

“Tyres often incise into soft ground, contributing to erosion and as one track becomes impassable another is created.”

He said the verderers had not “ruled out” joining in a review of the current cycle network but this could only succeed with consideration of the importance of tranquil areas, commoners' rights, and other recreational needs.

Pointing out that dog owners whose pets harassed livestock were dealt with by police, Lord Manners said the verderers also held commoners to account for any breaches of its bylaws.

The time had come for Forestry England to properly enforce no-cycling bylaws, he said, and demanded that the authority recognised off-route cycling was now a widespread problem.

Maps should be circulated so cyclists could easily identify the right tracks, he said, and signage should be improved along these routes.

Signs at all car parks should set out whether cycling was permitted from that area, he said, and online maps of unapproved routes should be taken down.

Lord Manners added that those who persistently breached bylaws should face prosecution.

He said: “The issue of concern is not that of the cyclist who gets lost or the family who inadvertently strays from the network. The issue is those who persistently flout the bylaw.”

Lord Manners said: “It is all too easy to characterise the verderers as anti-cycling. This is emphatically not the case.”

He said he was one of several verderers who used the Forest’s cycle network from "time to time". They were well aware of the many benefits of cycling, he said, and supported activity on the agreed network of tracks.

Robert Damper, member of Friends of the New Forest:

"As part of their long-standing anti-cycling agenda, the verderers are calling for Forestry England to enforce bylaws against cycling, based on instances of violations recently collected by the Friends of the New Forest.

"However, it isn’t clear that cycling off the so-called permitted network is even against the bylaws, which don’t actually mention cycling!

"One bylaw prohibits taking ‘vehicles’ into the Forest, but another says not to drive a motor vehicle on the Forest without a silencer – clearly contradictory.

"Bylaws as poorly drafted as these are simply unenforceable. As a member of Friends, I expressed grave reservations about collecting ‘violations’. It is simply not the case that cycling off the ‘permitted’ network is a violation."

David Orme, chair of Christchurch Bicycle Club:

"If an area is particularly sensitive or ‘tranquil’, all users should be banned from ‘intruding’ into it. Only 5% of Forest visitors are cyclists, whereas there are an estimated 10,000 dog-walking hours each day – which has the greater effect?

"From personal experience, I have found no difference in the reaction of horses or cattle between cycling during the day or after dark with ‘powerful’ lights, usually being completely ignored by them.

"However, cyclists should take care in approaching animals, walkers or horse riders. Walkers should not deliberately obstruct or confront cyclists, and dogs should be under control.

"I suggest that the verderers should focus their criticism on users who do the most actual harm to the flora and fauna of the Forest, using quantitative evidence, rather than biased, prejudicial arguments."

Ross Kempson, founder of Cyclexperience, Brockenhurst:

"In 1995 I published a set of cycling maps to sell from my bike hire business. These were approved by the Forestry Commission, but the verderers then threatened to enforce a ban on most of the 140 miles then allowed for cycling.

"Thankfully, this never came into force. However, in order to get permission from the verderers, the ‘network’ was reduced to the current ‘permitted’ tracks, which removed many interconnecting routes.

"This restriction has caused many of the ongoing access issues."

Kieran Foster, Cycling UK National Off-Road Advisor:

"The main purpose of bylaws is to manage problem behaviour, not punish innocuous behaviour that causes no harm. There is no evidence that cycle access on routes already widely used by walkers and horse riders, plus timber lorries, causes any significant disturbance to wildlife or erosion.

"National parks were created for open air recreation of the masses as well as conservation of the natural environment. There is a right of access for air and exercise to the entirety of the common lands under the law of property act 1925.

"The New Forest is the sole national park where there has been longstanding opposition from a tiny (but powerful) vocal minority to cycling in all its forms, on- and off-road."