Village bike trail proposals rejected on planning appeal
BID TO CREATE ROUTE AND EXTRA PARKING MET LOCAL OPPOSITION
A PROPOSED mountain bike trail and associated parking at a woodland close to a small village in North East Lincolnshire has been dismissed on appeal.
Seven trails used by bikes had already existed at the woodland off Ravendale Road, near Hatcliffe, prior to the 2021 application.
The proposal for the community mountain bike trails essentially involved putting it on a formal footing, to be used only by members of the Lincolnshire Flow group, and the creation of gravel parking.
It was rejected first back in December 2022. It has also been dismissed this year on appeal.
The aim was to create more interest in the sport and act as a hub to access the larger Lincolnshire Wolds Natural Landscape (NL), formerly known as Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Based on activity at a similar site in Market Rasen, around 1,800 visitors a year were anticipated. Hatcliffe is a settlement with little more than 120 people, though. More than 200 comments were made on the application, with plenty unhappy about the proposal.
This included a petition with as many signatures as there are residents in Hatcliffe, though this included people from elsewhere in North East Lincolnshire.
Concerns that it would degrade a natural beauty spot, and bring associated antisocial behaviour and traffic featured among objections made. The British Horse Society objected on the grounds it would have a harmful impact on local roads. Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers also objected, stating it was in the wrong place. He cited adverse impact on diverse wildlife and the roads being too narrow to cope with the traffic.
The council refused it on visual and landscape, harm to biodiversity, and noise and disturbance linked to traffic grounds.
Lincolnshire Flow took the case to appeal, but the planning inspector has rejected it, too.
The inspector visited the site. They concluded it would have an unacceptable effect on the highway safety, and harmful effect on the landscape character of the Lincolnshire Wolds NL. Amended plans had revised parking spaces down to ten, but the inspector states in their judgement there was no explanation for why this figure was arrived at.
The group had also stated the site would be managed through rules for members, but the inspector noted it was also stated elsewhere there would be no member of staff on site. This made it “unclear how these rules would be monitored or enforced”, or how to stop non-members from using it. The existing trails had not involved excavations, the inspector acknowledged. But their altering of the topography had not conserved, or enhanced, the landscape and scenic beauty of the Lincolnshire Wolds NL. Attempts were made to contact the applicant for opportunity for comment.