Peak District MTB have today launched a campaign to increase the rideable rights of way in the Peak District by 100%.

Comparing the national average of 22% of rights of way being bridleways to the Peak District’s paltry 11%, PDMTB have targeted adding another 220 kilometres of rideable paths to the rights of way network in the Peak.

It’s not an easy task. Finding the paths we all want to ride is easy. Getting the rights in place is a damn sight harder.

It’s not just the Peak District National Park who need to be on side, but the landowners and then the local councils.

Now thankfully. those local councils all have commitments in their rights of way plans to increase the amount of bridleways in their areas so it should be a pretty simple task to get things in place. Local councils are brilliant at keeping to their promises. Fingers crossed.

Get behind it

It’s a great campaign and bravo to PDMTB for pushing it. On the back of the Glover Report and alongside the huge increase in people riding, walking and horse-riding in the Peak District it makes perfect sense. Doubling the places people can ride will, arguably, halve the impact of riding over the patch. Halve the potential for conflict. Halve the rider impact on the rights of way network.

It’s a brilliant no brainer.

It’s a long play though. Unless, through the campaign, PDMTB can find some very friendly landowners it’s going to be a real campaign. A slog. A ton of hard work from just a voluntary group

But nothing worthwhile ever came easy. Bravo to PDMTB for taking on the tough fight.

So let’s get behind it.

Let’s go after that doubling of the rights of way for bikes.