(Above) Pictures released by the National Park Authority from one of the routes, Gorbeck Road on the Pennine Bridleway National Trail, showing their condition before and after being used by vehicles. Pictures courtesy Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority
A year-long legal battle between countryside officials and motorist groups in the Yorkshire Dales has ended with a court quashing new planning rules imposed on a series of "green lanes" in the National Park.
Four of the eight Traffic Regulation Orders, introduced by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority in April 2008 to prevent vehicles from using the "particularly sensitive" routes, were overturned at Leeds High Court after members of the Land Access Recreation Association challenged the restrictions during a two-day hearing.
Rangers and volunteers had been actively patrolling the byways since the original 13 Orders were made, with support from North Yorkshire Police leading to hefty fines and prosecutions for motorbike and 4x4 drivers.
The quartet of byways, running between Settle and Malhamdale, Malham Tarn and Arncliffe Cote and Horton-in-Ribblesdale and High Green Field, will now be fully opened to drivers again.
"The Authority was always aware that any orders it made to restrict motorised vehicular use of green lanes were likely to be challenged by recreational motor vehicle users," said Dr Malcolm Petyt, the YDNPA's Recreation Member Champion.
"Special care was taken to deal with the matter on the correct legal and procedural basis, so we are disappointed with this decision."
Announcing their dispute in July 2008, LARA – an umbrella organisation of coalitions including the Association of Land Rover Clubs, the British Motorcyclists Federation and the Motor Sports Association – said the Orders "rode roughshod" over "finding a workable solution allowing motorists to share a very small proportion of the National Park's unsealed rights of way."
They claimed the Authority had ignored its own officers' advice in enforcing the Orders, and received substantial donations towards a fund set up to support the "very expensive" contest.
The Authority argued the Orders would "help to preserve the peace and tranquillity" and "enhance the enjoyment" of the National Park as a way of "protecting the area for the future" when they were established. They had originally not been scheduled for review until 2013.
