NEWS THAT AFFECTS INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE
(Read Carefully)

The National Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 - Green Road Driving (NERC Act) was given Royal Assent on 30th March 2006, it states all public rights of way for Mechanical Propelled Vehicles (MPV) are extinguished if not already shown on the Definitive Map (DM). Any dual status Unclassified County Roads (UCRs) will also have MVs banned - the DM status will take precidence. We will no longer be able to claim Byway (BOAT) status for existing lanes on historical horse and carriage evidence OR for any lanes claimed after 20th January 2005.

In practise, in the Lake District for example, 25% of UCRs will be lost, Garburn Pass will become non-vehicular due to it is a dual status UCR/Bridleway status - Bridleay takes precidense.

Section 72 of the NERC Act says the National Parks alone can make Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) ie, close lanes, as opposed to previously being the County Councils responsibility. This effectively will make it easier to close lanes.

In view of the NERC Act, information on this website concerning which greenlanes/routes have Vehicular Rights must be  reconsidered. Please read more on the LARA website under the NERC section.

What are 'greenlanes' ?

Greenlaning is the pastime of driving (or riding) for pleasure legal unsurfaced vehicular rights of way (uVRoW) - referred to as 'greenlanes' - using motorised vehicles. It is not competition or racing but a leisurely way of seeing the countryside in Great Britain. There are many thousands of miles of uVRoW's but you need to know where they are - this is where this website can help you ! Ideally you should join a recognized 'greenlaning club' who will help you further, below are details of two at the forefront of greenlaning.

GLASS ( Green Lane Association) and the TRF (Trail Riders Fellowship), are essentially groups for 4x4's and trailriders respectively whose aim is to preserve ancient vehicular rights of way by raising the profile of 'green lane' users to local councils and the public in general. They also encourage their members to research archival evidence with the aim to uncover 'lost' vehicular highways that have perhaps fallen into disuse or have been wrongly classified, but ultimately, however, they are groups of like minded people who enjoy driving/riding unsurfaced roads. These clubs attempt to keep you informed of what is happening to our rights of way up and down the country by means of newsletters & bulletins and through organizational structures of area reps and county reps. In order for GLASS and the TRF to achieve this they encourage active participation of their members.

Northern Greenlanes

View@1024x768. Contains interactive Javascript - enable your browser! 1st Displayed : 24-Sep-97. © 2009 BP.