GLASS - Wolverns Lane Appeal

[Patrick]

GLASS Surrey - Stuart Boreham gave permission to repost his email here.

 

Hi all,

 

Hope you are well and enjoying the ‘summer’.

 

Something important has come up.

 

Next week I have a meeting with Surrey CC and the Land Owner about the state of Wolvern’s Lane and the damage that is being done there.  It runs from the A24 at Wooton to Coldharbour near Leith Hill and as many of you would have read in my recent magazine article is being trashed in a number of places by wilful off-piste damage. Its quite bad and although a few month ago Surrey were not minded to TRO it and shut the lane they may feel differently now the issue has become that much more severe over the winter.

 

Amongst other things, many bollards need to be installed along the edge of the lane and I would like to be able to offer them something concrete in terms of assistance.

 

If you would be willing to take part in a working party at some stage to dig some holes and put in some poles and even chip in some money if it comes to that, could you let me know below? If you have any specialist skills or equipment that will be great to know as well. I’d like to be able to go to the meeting and tell them how many people are really up for helping and how frustrated the 4x4 community is by the action of the criminal few.

 

It’s one of the oldest and most well-known lanes in Surrey and at the moment it is verging on the impassable due to damage. Unless we can at least offer a positive solution we all know where this will end.

 

Thanks guys

 

S

 

 

Stuart Boreham

07976 445772.    www.BorehamMedia.co.uk

[TimC]

Thanks for passing this on Patrick.

 

We drove this lane last weekend as part of the club Surrey Hills trip and, for me, it was the best lane of the day. A beautiful long lane through stunning countryside and old woods, we stopped for lunch half way along at Tankards pond, a lovely spot.

 

The lane itself was in very good condition I thought, nowhere near “verging on the impassable” with quite a lot of posts already in place to mark the way. However there were a couple of places where there was definite off piste activity that had really made a mess of the adjacent woodland unfortunately. I’m happy to volunteer some time to help put in some barriers, I have no specialist skills or equipment.

 

It won’t stop the minority who don’t care, which is a shame, but is certainly worth doing if it staves off a TRO from the council.

 

Cheers

Tim   

[Stew the Jeep]

We have to respond to these off piste idiots there are enough issues in Shropshire

[V]

I think the issue is national. If more councils would grant planning permission for off road parks for bikes and cars then perhaps more affordable venues would take the pressure off laning hotspots.

 

Shropshire has Forestry Commission off road parks for mountain bicycles, but not for motorcycles or cars. I see no reason why these three activities, even four with quads, cannot co-exist at the same sites with traffic segregation and/or different usage days. All weekdays and Saturdays for pedal cycles, Sundays motorised only.

https://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/FCeastridgewoodspanels2014.pdf/$file/FCeastridgewoodspanels2014.pdf

 

[Stew the Jeep]

Good thoughts Vince

[Patrick]

Stuart posted this just now. ....

 

Evening all,

 

The meeting with the land owner and the Surrey ROW officer on Tuesday went really well. We inspected the site and walked about half the lane to pinpoint every area of incursion (the more you look the more you find :-( )

 

The bottom line is that Wooton and Surrey are happy for us to get involved with repair work and were also impressed that so many people from the 4x4 community were upset and wanted to take positive action over what had happened.

 

The land owner has already written to his contractors asking them to put posts on some of the northerly ingresses. The plan is that we (me probably) should develop a plan of repair works on the most damaged section ( TQ 13764 46542. https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/51.20677,-0.37286,16 ) and then arrange a weekend of action to get those repairs undertaken. Surrey and the land owner have said they would be happy to contribute funding for  plant and materials respectively, potentially covering all the costs depending upon what the total is.

 

As far as I can see a good number of concrete or hefty wooden posts should be used to prevent further access to the 50m long damaged area, although some rebuilding of the bank to widen the lane by a metre or so at its narrowest point will also be required. It is within a few inches of being narrower than most Land Rovers due to the damage that has been done by vehicles repeatedly breaking down the bank.

 

Therefore we will be in for a large amount of digging and manual labour. I have had some offers of machinery which is great and as soon as we can get dates obtained I’ll come back to you and ask for confirmation of what those who have offered can definitely provide.

 

If any of you are actually builders or civil engineers I’d appreciate a chat to see whether what I am planning seems the best option - its not rocket science, deep buried posts, sand and cement or postfix, plus backfilling the eroded section with soil we will have to manually move and then compress with the heaviest vehicle we can find.

 

MEANWHILE - please do spread the word among friends and on social that people should stay legal on this - and all - lanes.

 

This is a last ditch effort. If there is more trespassing and damage on Wolverns then the goodwill the 4x4 community currently enjoy with the authorities will have been used up and we will be facing a seasonal or permanent TRO.

 

It's a fabulous route - lets keep it open for everyone to enjoy.

 

 

Stuart

 

 

 

[Patrick]

Stuart sent this earlier today...

Hi everyone,

 

We have a date for the first work party on the lane and I wanted to let you all know as soon as I could.

 

I’ve been blown away by the response – so many people have offered to help if everyone turned up we could probably shovel the lane back together using teaspoons and still do it in a day!

 

More realistically, one small group of experienced 4x4 users offered tracked excavators and a power auger which they own as a business, and this seemed like a no brainer for the urgent stuff. Since then we have had finance from the land owners and Surrey CC to pay for the repair materials and another part of Surrey CC are going to employ an approved contractor to repair the short section of fallen roadway as it was felt that was the best way to handle the legal / safety aspect of highway repairs.

 

As a result, and because of the presence of machinery, we will only need a relatively small number of voulnteers on the initial sessions to mainly undertake two things

 

1.      banksmen roles – warn hurtling cyclists to slow down and man the barriers at each end of the lane. I know this is not as exciting as digging holes in the ground but those jobs really need doing!

2.      loading timber from storage onto flatbed track and then unloading at site.

 

First dates are Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July.

 

I am pretty sure other jobs may become necessary as we get into it but I would rather not promise work and then find the machines can do it all. Therefore if you are up for wearing a hi-vis and guiding the human and vehicular traffic, or lugging some wood can you please let me know which day and what times? I envisage running shifts so you won’t be stuck in one place for too long.

 

There are other areas on the lane that also need repair, and as word gets around that there are people keen to help I imagine additional ‘events’ will be organised. It is likely this will not be the only weekend and that you will be able to wield the shovels and axes on other occasions (if suitably insured J ).

 

I am trying to balance keeping everyone enthusiastic but also getting the job done as quickly and proficiently as possible and getting the lane safe and secure and open again. Please don’t be disappointed that the required traffic management is not as aspirational as the manual labour us (mostly) men of a certain age so love – that time will come!

 

Finally if anyone has a 101 or similar off road capable flatbed that we can use for transporting the significant wooden poles that will be used, can you get in touch? We have one, but a second will help.

 

Regards, and look forward to hearing from you. I can’t tell you the good will your support has engendered.

 

Stuart

 

[stewart]

Thanks for this Patrick be good if anyone here has a bit of free time to help out!  :great:  I'll check with my diary (the wife :happy: )

[Patrick]

Update from Stuart :

 

 

Hi chaps,

 

Surrey CC and Wooton estate have agreed to action the repair of the lane, but have decided that because of the use of machinery it will have to be done by professional contractors for which they are prepared to pay. On that basis, the 30th June/ 1st July gig is off.

 

Despite this, everyone in the mix has agreed that our involvement as volunteers has really helped galvanise them in to action and they were very grateful for that. It has helped open conversations and build relationships and they really appreciated the numbers of you that showed concern and enthusiasm to make things good.

 

We now have a working relationship between volunteers and ‘officials’ and the Surrey officer has said that she is going to approach us about working with her on dates that she can attend as H&S supervisor and do repairing in other locations. It means that Glass and other volunteers can be more involved in Byway issues and that is a Good Thing.

 

I will keep you informed of anything else that comes up.

 

Have a great summer, and if any of you are looking for a trip out do let me know, often able to get involved. I know there were a few of you where we were not able to organise things with dates – do get in contact again if you are still keen.

 

Stuart

 

[TimC]

Good news!  :great: