maintenance would have to be fully funded from the publics purse.  To off roaders this consultation document was the largest single threat to their sport ever.  Off road press and club rights of way officers all urged users to reply to the consultation document, as one magazine urged its readers,
            "We must Act.  We must all Act.  We must all Act Now."  (Land Rover World, Oct 1996, p10.)
Many offroaders obviously took up this cry judging by the response the DOE received, showing how strongly the off road fraternity feels about its right of way access. 
"There was considerable interest in the consultation and over 1600 responses were received."  (Carr, 1997)
The outcome of the document was to the relief of all off roaders, although not entirely unexpected.  Michael Meacher, Minister for the Environment said
          "…we have found no compelling evidence of widespread problems being caused by recreational use of motor vehicles on byways and have concluded that there is no case for a general ban."  (DETR, Feb 1998)
There are to be changes as a result of the consultation although how and when such changes occur is unclear.  Changes include the simplification of the TRO procedure and for them to include nature and landscape conservation.  The DETR also published a guide entitled "Making The Best of Byways" for Highway Authorities and those with an interest.  Among other things it encourages co-operation between Highway Authorities and user groups and the promotion of codes of conduct for vehicle users, probably along the lines of the LARA code of conduct (see appendices).  Of course not everyone was happy, Janet Davis, a Ramblers' Association Policy Officer said,
          "we would have preferred to see a general ban…" (Land Rover World, April 1998, p8).  Whilst the "antis" will not give up the fight to rid the countryside of vehicles, there now exists proof from the DETR conclusion to the consultation document "Vehicles on Byways" that vehicles do not present a significant problem on rights of way and should not be banned.
      In 1994 as a result of growing concern over recreational vehicles in the countryside the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) launched an experimental project called the Hierarchy of Trail Routes (HoTR).  Like many other counties the Lake District's right of way system was somewhat confused with disputes over legal status, gaps in definition and problems arising from previous three counties' contributions before the HoTR initiative.  At the base of the project was the co-operation of some 25+ groups including the Cumbria County Council, the National Trust, LARA, the Ramblers' Association and the Green Lanes Association (GLASS) to name a few. (LARA & LDNPA, 1997, p13).  In brief it was recognised that the existing legal/administrative framework was not working. 
            "…It has been twenty five years of intellectual trench warfare with the battlefront doing no more than vibrate, as byway claims were won and lost…the legal system applied to rights of way does not work; future generations deserve better."  (Geoff Wilson as cited in LARA & LDNPA, 1997, p3).
A new approach was taken to involve user groups in sustainable management of the Lake District as a resource which included motor vehicles rather than an all out ban, as it was recognised that vehicle users constituted a valid user group who should not be excluded.  A test of suitability was introduced in planning the HoTR similar to that which the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act had previously discarded in reclassifying RUPP's.  Two of the most important integral features of the HoTR are that:

• Decisions are reached through total consensus and not majority rule;

(Continued ...)