DrT Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 The Motoring Organisations’ Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) takes the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to the High Court over the decision to put permanent prohibition of motors orders on eight unsealed roads.The use of ‘recreational motor vehicles’ on unsealed roads in the Yorkshire Dales National Park has been a contentious issue for many years. The Yorkshire Dales Trail Management Advisory Group (with members from a wide range of organisations) recommended a package of traffic control measures, each tailored to the specific situation of an initial set of eight routes: * Street Gate to Arncliffe Cote * Harber Scar Lane, Stockdale Lane * The Highway * Old Ing to Cam End via Ling Gill * Gorbeck Road * Horton Road * Cam High Road After two rounds of wide public consultation, but not based on evidence, the Access Committee of the National Park Authority resolved in April 2008 to ignore its own officers’ original recommendations, and to put full-time, permanent motor traffic prohibition orders on all these routes. LARA took Counsel’s advice on the validity of the National Park Authority’s decision and, consequent upon this has made an application to the High Court to have the orders quashed on eight grounds, including straightforward non-compliance with statutory requirements. LARA’s Member Organisations are not opposed to necessary and proportionate traffic regulation on unsealed roads, and actively pursue this in many places across Britain. The decision of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority rides roughshod over a great deal of hard work in finding a workable solution that allows motorists to share what is only a very small proportion of the National Park’s unsealed rights of way. The issues identified by LARA’s legal team are applicable to almost all traffic regulation order cases, and clarifying and establishing the legal and procedural requirements that bind highway authorities will have a value way beyond the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales. Fighting this case is very expensive, win or lose. Everyone involved in motor sport and recreation is asked to visit LARA’s website and make a donation to the Fighting Fund. For further information, or to make a donation to the Fighting Fund, please visit www.laragb.org Please make a donation to the fighting fund however small as every little helps! http://www.laragb.org/p-u-pages/donate.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob90 Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Well fair play to them. Ive used theese lanes a fair bit in my time. I have just donated via pay pal. good look to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 At last one of these groups is actually taking action against someone, about bl**dy time! Can I suggest the mods make this sticky to encourage people to donate to the fighting fund? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoggyN Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 At last one of these groups is actually taking action against someone, about bl**dy time! Can I suggest the mods make this sticky to encourage people to donate to the fighting fund? Hear hear! It's an important case and it will need all the money it can get It's worth pointing out that most of 'these groups' actually make up the membership of LARA and as such actively encouraged the decision to take action against YDNP. Obviously, as members, they will be fully supporting it - financially and otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Fully supported here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest otchie1 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Fully supported here! Money sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougstar Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Not used these particular routes myself but as above we all need to back this 110% because next time it could be the routes that i / you are useing regular that have these prohibition orders on them! 8700 active members X a few £ each it soon mounts up Just made my donation Dougie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 Donation made.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardAllen Posted July 23, 2008 Share Posted July 23, 2008 Donation made.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrT Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 Thanks everyone. I have heard that the fighting fund is around £60K at the moment but they might need as much as £100K so it all helps the cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted September 12, 2008 Share Posted September 12, 2008 I donated too. Good luck to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plantpot1961 Posted September 24, 2008 Share Posted September 24, 2008 My money is in the pot!! Good luck............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobotMan Posted October 4, 2008 Share Posted October 4, 2008 Me too. It seems to me that it was decided that it's cheaper to fight the case than maintain the lanes long term leaving more money to police wheely bins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 just seen this, having been in iraq for last 7 months, but donated now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 an developments on this story? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrT Posted December 11, 2008 Author Share Posted December 11, 2008 From LARA's latest news page "LARA's High Court action against the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is now in the 'warned list' for hearings, and so should be heard by the High Court quite soon. We still need Fighting Fund donations for this important case." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Any further developements on this? Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrT Posted June 1, 2009 Author Share Posted June 1, 2009 The LARA website http://www.laragb.org/ still has it as being on the "warned" list and waiting for it to be heard in the courts. British Legal system is very, very slow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoggyN Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Any further developements on this? Yes! Judgement was handed down today in the case of LARA vs Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority regarding the way in which they tried to TRO a number of lanes. WE won !!!!!! The text of the LARA press release is below. The details of the judgement can be seen by following the link from the GLASS website home page. -------------------------------------------------------- Green Lane Traffic Ban Quashed as 'Unbalanced and Irrational' by the High Court. The decision handed down by His Honour Judge Behrens, QC, in the Administrative Court in Leeds has restored four important green lanes in the Yorkshire Dales National Park to recreational motor vehicle use. The Motoring Organisation's Land Access and Recreation Association (LARA) challenged the decision of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to discard the recommendations of its own Green Lane Advisory Group, and instead to impose full-time prohibition of driving orders. Judge Behrens held that the Park Authority had not conducted the necessary degree of balancing of movement of traffic, and acted irrationally when moving to exclude recreational motor vehicles from 'green lanes' in the National Park. LARA has worked tirelessly over a number of years to fairly regulate and manage the use of green lanes in the National Park, despite the YDNPA adopting a policy to not liaise with recreational motor vehicle users. The Authority has also lobbied for national legislation against recreational motor vehicle activity in the Park, and has accepted the exaggerated lobbying of the anti-vehicle Yorkshire Dales Green Lane Alliance, Geoff Wilson, one of the claimants in LARA's case, is a great advocate of the principles of national parks, and is a past member and chair of the YDNP Local Access Forum; however he has become increasingly concerned at the arrogant and irrational manner in which the YDNPA, and in particular its Access Committee was performing. As the judgment was handed-down in Leeds at noon on 19th June, Geoff said, "I have a great fondness for the Yorkshire Dales and in many respects applaud the examples set by the Authority, but there are examples of the Authority acting unfairly and without appropriate balance for all elements of the Park community. The issues exposed by this judgment are a clear illustration that my concerns are well founded." "Throughout the long and often complex process adopted by the YDNPA, I, along with others, have sought to persuade the Authority to adopt a more inclusive and evidence-based approach, and to expose its procedures to greater scrutiny. However, in my view, it was a combination of underlying arrogance and lack of objectivity on the part of Park Authority officers and committee members that resulted in them falling foul of the errors identified in the judgment. In addition the Authority allowed itself to be guided by its own confused and contradictory Access Strategy. We told them that they were wrong, and why, but they just would not listen". "Through YDNPA intransigence this case must have cost the YDNPA, and tax payers, upwards of £50,000. It is time and money that need not and should not have been expended had the NPA been more rational in its approach. As a gesture of goodwill LARA even withdrew part of its original claim and made offers that would have avoided the greater part of these costs but typically in arrogance the Authority turned them down and cost the taxpayers a lot of money." LARA now urges the YDNPA to go back to the considered proposals of its Advisory Group as the basis for any orders to be remade, and undertakes to work positively with the YDNPA to achieve a fair balance of management measures. The lessons learned from this case are widely applicable to the making of traffic regulation orders everywhere, and not just on green lanes. The rules and considerations identified here apply to sealed roads just as much, and will help regulate spurious 'access only' prohibitions. More details can be obtained from: Geoff Wilson: geoffmoto@aol.com, Alan Kind: lara@mac.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Absolutely bloody brilliant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrT Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share Posted June 21, 2009 FANTASTIC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well done - it's good to see 'us' win for a change Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LR90 Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Well big pat on the back to LARA for having the tenacity and energy to see this one through to such a great result and credit to the courts too. Brilliant result and I'm sure very significant going forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I hope it is Trev! It'd be tremendous if it paved the way for opening routes elsewhere - I can think of a couple in the lakes that were closed but were easily sustainable... Fingers crossed and I'm looking forward to getting back into the Dales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 It is good news now let us hope that all 4 x 4 drivers drive all green lanes with respect. Also that the authorities (county councils/national parks etc) actually make reasonable decisions about the future of green lanes. What we do not want is the authoroties getting retrenched ideas and closing the lanes again resulting in future court cases. Each lane should be considered seperately and decisions made on things like is the lane sustainable for driving all year round, whether a lane shold only be driven in the summer months (i.e seasonal closure) closed for 2/3 years to allow lane to recover/be repaired, or permanent closure as the lane is too damaged/goes through sensitive areas/too costly to be repaired Regards Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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