Off-road bike park talks to help curb rogue riders
Talks are ongoing over finding an area of land to develop a dedicated facility for offroad motorcycles to help reduce antisocial behaviour in communities in Sunderland and South Tyneside.
It was revealed last year Northumbria Police hoped to develop a dedicated motorcycle facility to divert off-road motorbikes to, in an attempt to tackle issues often raised in populated areas.
Motorcycle disorder is a regular topic at council meetings across Tyne and Wear, with concerns over speeding, noise and public safety, and the model proposed follows in the footsteps of Scotland.
An update was provided at the latest Sunderland scrutiny co-ordinating committee on Wednesday, January 19, on steps to find a site suitable to accommodate the riders in Wearside, South Tyneside and Gateshead.
Stephen Laverton, council strategic manager for community safety and safeguarding, said he had “hoped to come with really good news” after a potential site had been identified, but this had fallen through.
He said: “There’s been some environmental work completedbySouthTyneside
and the council which has ruled that out for ecological reasons, and some protected species, so we’re back to the drawing board.
“We are looking across Sunderland, Gateshead and South Tyneside to have a piece of land where people can actually drive used motorcycles
and quad bikes.
“We realise unless we’re actually providing something for them, we’re going to see a continuation of this problem.”
He added they are hoping to push on with the scheme this year, acknowledging motorcycle disorder is a concern residents often raise.
Following the update as part of the annual Safer Sunderland report, Cllr Melanie Thornton asked for more details on how the scheme would help tackle the offroad bikers issue.
The Copt Hill representative said: “Motorcycle disorder order, obviously it’s high up on residents priorities, and it certainly is in my ward.
“My only concern with finding an area within those three local authorities is, that’s great for people who use them legally, but the ones that we’re concerned about are the illegal users.”