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Newspaper article here:
http://www.gethampshire.co.uk/news/local-news/mod-land-use-fear-armed-7256693#comments
Got stopped going into Deepcut at the top of Fence Line. Having a chat it seems they are finally looking to start enforcing the Bylaw so be aware. I wasn't forced to leave but just advised that I shouldn't be there and that I wouldn't be covered by any insurance should I have an accident.
Bumped into the officer in charge of health and safety in the area a couple of months ago, he was out showing around some la de das who ran the wildlife trust in the area, well something like that.
Got in a really good conversation with them, my understanding from the conversation is the crux of it is that they have to be seen to be actively showing due diligence on the health and safety front for all users, public liability and all that. IE if a public user gets hurt on the land and the army has not demonstrated due diligence, they are liable. A way they demonstrate this is to enforce the bye law stopping public users going anywhere other than the public rights of way. Though his words were, by informing us of the use restrictions, to not continue riding on anything other than public right of way, he was showing due diligence.
I ride the MOD land 4 times a week, this was the only instance where i've had a talking to from someone, it just so happened to be the bloke in charge of it, he was very well prepared, very polite and a pleasure to talk to.
My gut instinct from the conversation was as long as use of the land is well respected, turn around when see an exercise, cut out the night riding, nothing bad will come from it, enforcing the bye-law is there to give their warning some clout, but at the end of the day my understanding is that worst case is prosecution for a £500 fine, for me, not the end of the world considering the lifetime of riding i've had on the land.
I lived in the area for 10 years and cycled, ran and walked my dogs at Ceasar's, Tunnel Hill etc and never had a problem....bumped into loads of Soldiers and always did my best to do a 180 and disappear in the opposite direction.
As ever the shouty 'i know my rights' minority ruin it for the rest, i have been dumbfounded over there in the past when Soldiers have issued a perfectly reasonable request to a dog walker to leave the area and been met with a torrent of abuse in return....organised group rides with loads of participants will get noticed more than the odd rogue cyclist by him/herself....mega-lumen lights on night rides is just so selfish with regard to Soldiers trying to preserve their night vision, use night vision optics etc etc, i cant believe some idiots give priority to their hobby over people trying to do a job....dog walking companies seem to be pushing their luck at the moment, there are sign written vans over there all the time and the land is not supposed to be used for financial gain but thats exactly what professional dog walkers are doing by using the land, it hasnt gone unnoticed....