Permissions for fell race

Just wanted to mention that I think the Peak District National Park and National Trust appear to be tightening up their rules around applying for permissions for fell races. In addition to the £50 'registration fee' that I've had to pay in recent years, this year they have forwarded my application on to Natural England. This is because the Kinder Downfall race uses a very short section of path that crosses an SSSI area at the top of William Clough. This is a very well established long used popular path and they've not mentioned applying to Natural England in previous years as far as I am aware.
I've been the RO for last 3 years. Also NT told me that Natural England say it can take 4 months to process the application and they advised me in future to apply for permissions a year in advance. So I'm posting this to make other Peak District based ROs aware. Not sure how people are finding things in other areas.

Will, Drop Nicky an email telling her about your issues, she has a meeting with Peak Park etc very soon.

all ROs in the peak are having a hard time. I know of a few races that have had problems yet it seems to me there are more and more commercial races appearing??

Thanks Ian will do.

Andy had to cancel the Kinder Trial becasue "he was too late" applying for permission. I wonder if he did nothing different to previous years and it was more a case of they were slower?

Just received this from the organiser of the New Chew:

"Its with regret that I have to cancel the New Chew 2019 event as I don't have Natural England's permission to proceed. NE need 28 working days to look at the map and agree with land owners what the land owners have already agreed. That is to look on screen at the control points that you've all signed up to run to in 3.5 - 4.5 hours. They did have the time in previous years and would have time this year if we paid them, but not enough time if we don't. As we don't want to set a precedent for the FRA and other clubs we decided not to concede to the extortion. The organisation move the goal posts every year and in each of the last 3 I've managed to hit the net. Unfortunately, not this time. "

Not good news.

I think it is about time we started giving two fingers to these Quangos. I have never heard a convincing argument why "permission" is required to run on public footpaths/bridleways.
We are on a slippery slope, the bottom of it being, to only being "allowed" to run on the parts of the National Parks that have been spoiled by paving them over.

Yes, I got that email about New Chew as well. Didn't like it one bit. There definitely seems to be a quite concerning trend regarding access and permissions, in the Peak at least.

I agree with the above. The overall direction of policy is worrying as far as future fell races are concerned. Last year I paid the £50 PDNPA 'registration fee' and I was told this payment would mean they 'register the race' (whatever they mean by that - put it on a spreadsheet presumably - for £50!) and also contact landowners/tenants and get their permissions on my behalf.
I got a phone call from PDNPA the Friday before the race asking if I'd contacted the landowners. I told them I had, just as I and other ROs have been doing for the last 38 years that the Downfall has been run. Clearly the £50 is simply a payment for their permission to run the event. No different from having to pay a private landowner.
And now you can pay for NE to look at a map and say yes or no. Because if you don't they might not have time.
Maybe the FRAs access and environmental representative needs to take this up? guidance from the FRA?
I'm sorry to hear that the New Chew is cancelled, but totally agree it's best not to 'concede to the extortion'.

The Trans Fan race (Llanddeusant to Cwm Llwch, in the Brecon Beacons National Park) was run every year from 1984 to 1989, but then stopped due to difficulties with access permissions (the largest number of runners in any year was 25 !).

Since 1997, Mynyddwyr De Cymru have organised an informal timed run from Llanddeusant to Cwm Llwch each year. Is this the sort of thing that is likely to start happening elsewhere?

http://runmdc.org.uk/runs/transfan/

I think the problem this year is that the rules have changed and we (as race organisers) weren't aware of it. This is particularly troublesome for those whose races are earlier in the year, so have had less time to adjust to this rule change.

However, we do need to work with these bodies to ensure we have the relevant permissions. I would hope we (possibly through the FRA) can be more involved in the decision-making process. That way we can put our case across that we need simple processes that meet the needs of both parties.

Bob Berzins (DP) has done a lot of access work in the eastern peak regards access and keeping on top of things. It may be worth getting some input/ideas from him as to how western peak district issues could be tackled? Of course this would need to be taken on by someone with the time/inclination to do so.

It's disappointing to hear of this obstructive behaviour coming from Natural England. Where I live, a wealthy shooting syndicate has taken over a pheasant shoot which is mostly over SSSI land of incredible diversity and ecological sensitivity (NE have responsibility for all SSSI land). The syndicate has broken just about every SSSI rule by building illegal infrastructure along the river (shooting platforms, steps, concrete shooting platforms), bulldozing trees to make new tracks, felling trees etc - essentially turning the SSSI, a steep sided valley of ancient oak woodland into a shooting theme park infested by 30,000 pheasants. Despite many people contacting NE via e-mail and letters in the local press highlighting the breaches of the law, nothing has been done by NE in the 6 months since it all started. For them to block fell races when we all bend over backwards to protect the environment demonstrates a severe case of double standards . They claim to be underfunded, but a lot of the problem seems to be that the board is riddled with conflicts of interest (the pro-shooting lobby for starters) to the extent that their remit to protect SSSIs is meaningless.

Explore events' Peak Raid are no longer. Here's what they posted on Facebook. More preemptive than anything else.

Obtaining access for the Peak Raid events has become increasingly difficult due to recent requirements imposed by the Peak District National Park and Natural England amongst others, and whilst we have always manged to get permission, we’ve often been forced to make course changes very late in the day. For example at one event we only received permission the day before, despite working on it for 9 months. So far this hasn’t had a significant impact on the event experience but we feel it’s just a matter of time before it does, not to mention the toll it’s had on our nerves! The demands of staging the events aren’t getting any easier and we have less free time as our own professional lives have become busier, so it is with regret that we have decided to call it a day on Explorer Events, at least for the foreseeable future.

The Peak Raid events have become a great success with a fantastic Peak Raid community developing so we appreciate that many people will be disappointed to hear this but we feel it is best to quit while you’re ahead, and while we’re still proud of the events’ quality and popularity. So thank you all for your role in making 20 great events, 300 controls, 60 hours of fun, a possible 10,000 points and lot of tea & biscuits.

So is this the end of the 70 pointer? Well probably, however if you have a burning desire to carry the Peak Raid baton forward then we’re more than happy to discuss passing it on to somebody who appreciates its values and has a desire to see the events continue. Just don’t all rush at once!
Over and out.
Dave, Rich and all the Explorer Events team.

What a shame, the Peak Raid series were brilliant events,I'm really going to miss those.

I wonder if the Kong MMM series might expand their Peak District offering as some level of replacement?

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Originally Posted by ba-ba

I wonder if the Kong MMM series might expand their Peak District offering as some level of replacement?

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I'm not sure. I think Alison dropped one of her Peak District events because of difficulties with access permissions. Still, I hope she does (expand the offering), as these events are about the only ones I can compete in these days.

Anotyher PEak District race bites the dust (for this year at least):

"Grin & Bear It - CANCELLED

Simon has had to cancel the race as it crosses a section of land that is an SSSI and is so wet the landowner feels it will be damaged"

Given that one of the main features of the race was traversing the 'Bog Monster' from cut gate, you feel this issue could always be a factor.

Fairly certain this (albeit with a different route, but still crossing the Bog Monster) was my first ever long race back in 2008.

After finally gaining a place in the High Peak Marathon...NT permissions are not forthcoming! Yet...
Fingers crossed; I believe the organisers are working tirelessly to resolve, for which I'm very grateful.

We were discussing the other day at what point will people decide it's easier to "race" as a group of friends in non-organised non-events. As long as the land is access land or on paths, there would be no laws preventing this. Hopefully it doesn't come to this.

I’d like to see an expansion of Kong MMM into the Cheviots...

With permission and access issues and the like, British Orienteering have seen fit to advertise for a new role managing permissions etc.

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Job Vacancy - Access Environmental Officer
British Orienteering is creating an exciting new role to address the increasing environmental, economic and regulatory challenges we face in securing access to the countryside for orienteering.

This new position will be part-time for two days per week and can be carried out remotely or at British Orienteering’s National Office in Matlock.

Do you have a professional understanding of the importance of access to the countryside? Find out more:

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