Quad bikes .

jwshooter

im pleased to see as from 31july 2010 quads/bikes have been banned off many mountains around the country .

more info can be viewed on mountaineering ireland .

BELOWaverageIQ

jwshooter wrote: »

im pleased to see as from 31july 2010 quads/bikes have been banned off many mountains around the country .

more info can be viewed on mountaineering ireland .

Yaaaa haaaaaaaaeee
about fekin time .
Excellent news JW..... Keep up the good work :-)

Grizzly 45

Fair enough if it keeps the racing idiots and dirt bike shower away.Bad news if it bans the likes of us from using them for carcass recovery,farmers from herding in sheep etc.

johngalway

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Fair enough if it keeps the racing idiots and dirt bike shower away.Bad news if it bans the likes of us from using them for carcass recovery,farmers from herding in sheep etc.

I'm just throwing out a wild guess here but, ya didn't go to the site and read the article did ya :P

Cass

From the website........................

The 13 sites choosen are designated “Natura 2000” sites by the EU and require a high level of environmental protection. The 13 are:

- The Raven SAC, Wexford;
- Blackstairs Mountains SAC, Wexford/Carlow;
- Wicklow Mountains SAC,Wicklow/Dublin;
- Kilpatrick Sandhills SAC, Wexford;
- Cahore Dunes Polder SAC Cahore Marshes SPA, Wexford;
- Slieve Blooms SAC, SPA, Laois/Offaly;
- Carlingford Mountain Louth;
- Ballyness Bay SAC, Donegal;
- Gweedore Bay Islands SAC Donegal;
- Castlemaine Harbour SAC, SPA (including Inch Strand) Kerry;
- Galtee Mountains SAC Limerick/Tipperary;
- Slieve Bearnagh SAC Clare;
- Slieve Aughty SPA Galway/Clare.

The regulations are not aimed at agricultural or other working use of quad bikes and other similar off-road vehicles or their use by the security and emergency services

bunny shooter

And who/how are they going to enforce this?

jwshooter

there is a web site called quads off lug have a look at the damage they do .

the_syco

bunny shooter wrote: »

And who/how are they going to enforce this?

It doesn't say. Only says

If you have any photos or details of where this activity continues please email access@mountaineering.ie.

bunny shooter

the_syco wrote: »

It doesn't say. Only says

Exactly ! unless it is "policed" & enforced by people with some official power eg wildlife rangers, the legislation is useless :rolleyes:

Vegeta

Excuse my ignorance but what do the three letter acronyms mean i.e. SPA and SAC?

CJhaughey

Vegeta wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what do the three letter acronyms mean i.e. SPA and SAC?

Special Protected Area, and Special area of Conservation

Vegeta

So another question on this, are Coillte allowed cut trees and run machinery on these mountains?

Tackleberrywho

Vegeta wrote: »

So another question on this, are Coillte allowed cut trees and run machinery on these mountains?

Yes Coillte can cut trees that they planted, SAC's are all over the country. Even some small groves are SAC's depends on the area

Similar to Jet skis being banned off most lakes, as fellas Hooning about messes it up for the majority of users.However Jet ski's may be used on certain parts of lakes.

johngalway

Vegeta wrote: »

Excuse my ignorance but what do the three letter acronyms mean i.e. SPA and SAC?

Paperwork :rolleyes:

CJhaughey

Vegeta wrote: »

So another question on this, are Coillte allowed cut trees and run machinery on these mountains?

Of course they are. This is aimed at recreational bikers, not commercial users.
They would have been much better off actually making an offroad park somewhere that the owners of these vehicles could use for a fee.
But like so much legislation banning is much easier, CF pistols etc etc.......
How are they going to police the 160k hectares?
Will they have teams of highly trained quad riders to intercept and fine lawbreakers?

Vegeta

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Yes Coillte can cut trees that they planted, SAC's are all over the country. Even some small groves are SAC's depends on the area

Just find it a bit odd, I live close to one of these locations and the only noticeable tracks were laid by Coillte. So why is ok for them to operate there and not the individual?

Carrauntoohil is well scarred by hill walkers. What's their excuse?

Obviously not all areas are the same, but it makes no sense locally anyway where the hill tops are scarred by much more permanent tracks than the ones laid by quads.

Vegeta

CJhaughey wrote: »

Of course they are. This is aimed at recreational bikers, not commercial users.

I understand this, but the reason for the introduction appears to be because recreational users are damaging these protected areas.

I find this reason a bit "off" considering the industrial nature of the work already going on in some of these locations. The stone roads are a lot more permanent, the tracks left by heavy machinery is more obvious and so on.

Just doesn't seem right that these areas are being protected from the individual but not from commercial interests. One rule for some and another rule for others.

CJhaughey

Vegeta wrote: »

Just doesn't seem right that these areas are being protected from the individual but not from commercial interests. One rule for some and another rule for others.

I am in complete agreement. This smells like Herr Gormley has had his ear twisted by a bunch of hillwalkers and had to be seen to be doing the right thing.
Like I said the ban stick is alive and well.

diveshark

They can't catch poachers on foot, so they have feck all chance of catching lads on quads/bikes etc.!!

Gormley is truley laughable, more and more rules, keeping himself in a job or what!

bunny shooter

CJhaughey wrote: »

I am in complete agreement. This smells like Herr Gormley has had his ear twisted by a bunch of hillwalkers and had to be seen to be doing the right thing.
Like I said the ban stick is alive and well.

TBH I never even considered it from this point of view :eek: :mad:

Pkiernan

A law that's not worth the paper it's written on.

1. Responsible quad owners don't rip up the ground they drive on, but will obey this new law.

2. Irresponsible drivers who do rip up the ground will ignore the law.

3. The law is as good as impossible to enforce.

Result: only irresponsible drivers will be out on our hills on their bikes!

Consider also that a loaded quad bike puts less psi on the ground than a hillwalker. When driven CAREFULLY they do less damage than a person out walking!

Grizzly 45

johngalway wrote: »

I'm just throwing out a wild guess here but, ya didn't go to the site and read the article did ya :P

Read it on Sat's Indo TBH:p:p
One area is affected where I deer hunt,not that you could get a quad up there,it's almost impossible to walk.But for a halfway down area it would be ideal to have a quad for carcass removal.All in all it's more "laws" without the enforcement capability.
Should add;I've seen more damgge done by farmers with their tractors and forestry machinery trying to get up hills in the wrong time of year than I've seen with quad bikes.

Norwayviking

jwshooter wrote: »

im pleased to see as from 31july 2010 quads/bikes have been banned off many mountains around the country .

more info can be viewed on mountaineering ireland .

Pity it isnt the road passing my house as well.
I am sick of quads passing by every night at 2300 hours with small children in the house.

johngalway

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Read it on Sat's Indo TBH:p:p
One area is affected where I deer hunt,not that you could get a quad up there,it's almost impossible to walk.But for a halfway down area it would be ideal to have a quad for carcass removal.All in all it's more "laws" without the enforcement capability.
Should add;I've seen more damgge done by farmers with their tractors and forestry machinery trying to get up hills in the wrong time of year than I've seen with quad bikes.

The difference being tractors/forestry machinery are there for a purpose. Recreational quads are often no more than big boys toys, who don't ask can they go a place in the first instance.

Agree about the law enforcement, doesn't stand a chance. The most that will come out of it is walkers and others phoning in reports, I'm guessing there won't be lightning reaction times..

Sparks

Vegeta wrote: »

Carrauntoohil is well scarred by hill walkers. What's their excuse?

To be fair, the vandals doing that are to hill walkers what bank robbers are to us. I spent most of my childhood walking up around that part of the world and not destroying where you were walking was so fundamental and basic a thing that it'd be more likely that you'd have gone walking up there without boots than to have gone walking and dumped rubbish or set fires or the like.

Vegeta

Sparks wrote: »

To be fair, the vandals doing that are to hill walkers what bank robbers are to us. I spent most of my childhood walking up around that part of the world and not destroying where you were walking was so fundamental and basic a thing that it'd be more likely that you'd have gone walking up there without boots than to have gone walking and dumped rubbish or set fires or the like.

I am not talking about vandals at all Sparks, just the weight of numbers walking a noticeable trail into the side of the mountain.

Sparks

Last I heard was a good few years back, but weren't they talking about putting in logs across the marked path to reinforce it to stop that?

Vegeta

Sparks wrote: »

Last I heard was a good few years back, but weren't they talking about putting in logs across the marked path to reinforce it to stop that?

I did it earlier this year and no sign of anything like that and we went up one route and down another.

I have no problem myself with trails left by humans, horses or quads it's just I would hope to see even application of the law.

I cant even drive a quad let alone own one it just irks me to see such re-active non-sense legislation. Pkiernan is spot on, only people who are responsible anyway will obey these laws and the guys doing the damage will continue and fail to be caught

CJhaughey

Vegeta wrote: »

I
I cant even drive a quad let alone own one it just irks me to see such re-active non-sense legislation.

Thats what happens when a minor partner in a largely corrupt coalition gets pressurised by extremist elements within the party.
Dog bills, stag hunting, off road bikes, all fiddling while Rome is made into lumps of charcoal.
Meanwhile the allegations that a corrupt senator have been fraudulently obtaining money for non-existent telephones is glossed over as *antics*.
You can be damn sure that if a prosecution for quadbike riding was taken it wouldn't be described as antics by anyone in power.

jwshooter

Pkiernan wrote: »

A law that's not worth the paper it's written on.

1. Responsible quad owners don't rip up the ground they drive on, but will obey this new law.

2. Irresponsible drivers who do rip up the ground will ignore the law.

3. The law is as good as impossible to enforce.

Result: only irresponsible drivers will be out on our hills on their bikes!

Consider also that a loaded quad bike puts less psi on the ground than a hillwalker. When driven CAREFULLY they do less damage than a person out walking!

i take it your a quad biker ,have you ever been on heather with it .

Grizzly 45

Too dangerous up in my neck of the woods...er..bog.Too many unmarked ,grown over and flooded deep turf cuttings.

Pkiernan

jwshooter wrote: »

i take it your a quad biker ,have you ever been on heather with it .

I have 2 quads, yes, but have yet to drive them on public land in Ireland.

I haven't driven on heather, nor would I for (a) fear of damaging it, and (b) God knows what would be under it.

I also don't walk on heather when I am in the hills.

The points I made are still valid. Another feel-good law that doesn't and indeed cannot offer any solution.

As an example, I was hiking up in the Wicklow hills a few months back. Middle of nowhere country. There was a dirt-biker ripping up and down the treks with little regard for anyone. This law will not stop him from repeating his actions, as he won't be apprehended (unless he happens to drive up to a ranger and turn himself in).

kilmuckridge

Unlike on mountains where there are tens of thousands of hectares to police, the Kilmuckridge-Tinnaberna sandhills comprise little over 50 hectares, with only two access points: Tinnaberna and Kilmuckridge (Morriscastle Strand). It is an area where enforcement would be very easy, as the offenders have to leave via one of these. The SAC was to be protected along with all sandhills, but the regulations were changed since an earlier draft was presented to environmental groups. With several sites in Wexford protected, more quads may turn up in Kilmuckridge. The grey dunes in Kilmuckridge have been damaged by quads already, see photos at:
http://sites.google.com/site/kilmuckridge1/quads
and are under severe pressure due to other factors already, with 50% of the SAC's grey dunes destroyed

kay 9

kilmuckridge wrote: »

Unlike on mountains where there are tens of thousands of hectares to police, the Kilmuckridge-Tinnaberna sandhills comprise little over 50 hectares, with only two access points: Tinnaberna and Kilmuckridge (Morriscastle Strand). It is an area where enforcement would be very easy, as the offenders have to leave via one of these. The SAC was to be protected along with all sandhills, but the regulations were changed since an earlier draft was presented to environmental groups. With several sites in Wexford protected, more quads may turn up in Kilmuckridge. The grey dunes in Kilmuckridge have been damaged by quads already, see photos at:
http://sites.google.com/site/kilmuckridge1/quads
and are under severe pressure due to other factors already, with 50% of the SAC's grey dunes destroyed

Doesn't seem to be very much damage there to me. I see the grass is a bit thrown over but no scraws turned or the likes. Most respected quaders or bikers wouldn't go there anyway as it's not suitable ground for the sport. Is that area farmed? Might be farmers. Is it a commonage?

Ps. those pics might not be doing justice to the immediate damage...

kilmuckridge

Hi kay9
The area is a special area of conservation, the destruction of vegetation/disturbing wildlife by use of vehicles on such an area is illegal but without a specific ban, quad users from other areas who do not know this may think it is legal to quad here. These pictures were taken in April, not that many quads are in the area at that time. It would be illegal for a farmer to have driven there as it is going nowhere along the beach front. Farmers may only use their quads for agricultural purposes.

The danger is that with quading banned in so many nearby sites, attention will be drawn to kilmuckridge or similar sites which should be protected. See the main website for the destruction which has been ongoing in kilmuckridge for 8 years http://sites.google.com/site/kilmuckridge1/photos/5
the grey dunes of Kilmuckridge have suffered enough!

The disturbance that quading can do in an area like this is vast. Birds nest in this marram grass and other wildlife also live there. The use of quads could cause further habitat fragmentation and also change the equilibrium of the ecosystem. Endangered species of orchids and delicate lichens also live in these dunes and could be wiped out very easily.

kay 9

Thanks for the reply lad, I get where yer coming from with disturbing nests etc and totally agree with this as quading in such areas is not necessary. In time it will/would have got worse and possibly to such a level that it would be irreversible. Can't personally get why people are biking in such areas as I have a keen interest in the sport myself but we stick to forest runs and tracks and it doesn't bother anyone. Such dense grassy sand planes aren't suitable. Ah cowboys I suppose ruining it on everyone else, same as a few in the shooting community doing illigitimate s*it:rolleyes: