UK Trails Project Launches ‘Right Trails, Right Places’

News

by Hannah Dobson November 14, 2023 0

The UK Trails Project has David Evans in post as Project Manger, and is getting underway with a series of workshops around the country. The project aims to improve the long term sustainability of trails in the UK – and to do that it needs an understanding of what the challenges are, and what people want to ride. This is the first step along the way.

This initial series of in-person workshops will allow David Evans to design an online questionnaire for riders – which will be easier for the majority of people to respond to than these workshops. The project will also separately be talking to landowners to get their perspectives on the issues they face. Once the questionnaires have been analysed, this will highlight the work that can be done to support trails – whether that’s building new ones, or legitimising some of those that already exist so that they can be secure for the future. We’ll be talking to David for our podcast soon – watch this space.

If you’re available to head along to any of the in person events, please do – they’re for you, to help shape the future of trails in the UK.

UK Trails Launch Tour – Dates for Riders Workshops 

Here’s the official press release:

The UK Trails Project has been developed to help understand the current position of the trail network in each UK country and develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities, and challenges, to improve the long-term sustainability and security of the places we love to ride. 

This project comes at a time when the sport of mountain biking is maturing to be capable of engaging with land managers and owners to develop a sustainable, exciting, and varied trail network for all levels. 

The first step of the project will be to develop a UK wide ‘Right trail, right place, right people, right time’ report to give riders and land managers the space to tell the stories of their trails. We want to learn from riders across the country and develop a nationwide picture of who is riding what, when and where. We also want to hear from landowners and work with them to identify opportunities and reduce their pressures in supporting the trail network. 

To do this, we want to meet the riders of Britain and hear your stories first hand. UK Trails Project Manager David Evans will be travelling to riding hotspots around the UK to meet and greet riders, explain the project, the potential for a shared vision, and hear your tales. He will also be hosting an online workshop in January 2024 to capture the views and thoughts of riders who were not able to attend in person.

We don’t have all the answers, but we fully understand it takes years of dialogue to create a viable riding venue and would love you to share your experiences. Your feedback in these sessions will help us shape an online questionnaire to be released to riders UK wide in January 2024. Once we gain a fuller understanding of what’s happening across the UK, we can publish our Report to share and celebrate your successes and highlight opportunities the barriers the progress to be addressed in the next phase of work.  

Mountain biking in the UK has never been better. Let’s get the right trails in the right place to help secure its future. 

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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