Hi, Has anyone had any good or bad experiences of allowing 4x4 off-roading events on their farm? We've been approached by a club to use some of our forestry to do several events a year, with camping, and it seems like it could be a fairly lucrative deal for us. I'd be grateful for any thoughts.. Thanks
4x4 off roading
- Thread starter Becs
- Start date
ollie989898
Member
Noise complaints.
People driving where they should not go.
Damage to fields, lanes or trees (damage to these from winches).
Are they going to cancel events if the weather is bad and the land is tender?
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Haha - I’ve seen that episode of Midsommer Murders with the 4WD club.
Nothing but trouble
Nothing but trouble
- Location
- NSW, Newstralya
Surely that adds to the appeal ?
not much challenge driving down a hard, dry farm track is there ?
I've run a Club for many years and finding "Pay and Play" sites is difficult especially in the last couple of years with the weather and also Covid. As a ballpark figure £450/500 for a weekend, vehicles arriving from 9am Saturday and all gone by 5pm Sunday or just a day at at least £350. The better sites have a welfare unit with a hardstanding area for trailer parking and a real bonus for the locals and the site owner is a wash area to reduce the amount of mud tracked out onto the road. Camping doesn't need to be much more than a corner of grass, yes you'll get an odd caravan but most are just a tent or a tent type thing that attaches to their vehicle.
Set the ground rules such as any evidence of bad behaviour and they're off, never to return. Tape off areas that are prohibited, provide clear site plans/maps so there's no confusion. Stick to Clubs, make sure they hold their own liability insurance, they are more likely to regulate their members, public days are a nightmare with ebay purchases dragged along, used wrecked and left behind and the owners never found again.
Only let them go where you're comfortable with and only let pre-booked groups on after a deposit, it's your land and only let people on under your terms
Set the ground rules such as any evidence of bad behaviour and they're off, never to return. Tape off areas that are prohibited, provide clear site plans/maps so there's no confusion. Stick to Clubs, make sure they hold their own liability insurance, they are more likely to regulate their members, public days are a nightmare with ebay purchases dragged along, used wrecked and left behind and the owners never found again.
Only let them go where you're comfortable with and only let pre-booked groups on after a deposit, it's your land and only let people on under your terms
From a planning perspective providing the events cover less than 28 days a year then no planning is required.
However, if you are putting down any hardstanding, creating highway access or providing any structures then these will require planning permission as Agricultural Permitted Development rights won't apply as it is not for the purposes of agriculture.
Be careful though if you are in a Conservation Area or National Park as there may be blanket TPO's on woodland as well as individual trees and Tree Officers will lose their
at the sight of a winch!
However, if you are putting down any hardstanding, creating highway access or providing any structures then these will require planning permission as Agricultural Permitted Development rights won't apply as it is not for the purposes of agriculture.
Be careful though if you are in a Conservation Area or National Park as there may be blanket TPO's on woodland as well as individual trees and Tree Officers will lose their
at the sight of a winch!
Netherfield
Member
- Location
- West Yorkshire
After seeing the mess they make on the 'green lanes' around here, no way.
ollie989898
Member
Of course, but then if you are a farmer who needs to use those same lanes and they are a morass, it takes some sorting out, a little old set of mounted discs dragged down the tracks in the summer makes a lovely job of them.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Only if you're in control of Eastnor Park where Land Rover have used it for so much of their testing and promotional stuff. We rarely get many more than 20 motors, we look at charging individual vehicles £25 so for the Club to break even at £500 we need 20 vehicles so at £450 we'd have surplus which goes towards the Club's insurance cover and Club costs. I am not a great believer in raking in money when as Club members we're all in the same boat with not a lot of money but still wanting to enjoy what can be an expensive hobby. There's a lot more charged at other sites, £80/100 per vehicle per day. These are often insurance covered by the site owner or the people who are managing the site and will have some serious tracks and routes set up around their site.
Don't forget I am talking about the locality around Herefordshire, locations nearer to big cities will be able to command much higher prices, it never ceases to amaze me on how many townie dwellers keep an off roader tucked away. You only have to see the Peterborough Showground rammed full of enthusiasts of just the Land Rover brand in September every year, the show area is actually quite small, it's the rest of the Showground that is packed with vehicles and tents/caravans of enthusiasts for the weekend. People travel from all over including Europe just for that show.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
14 weekends a year with no planning permission soften that statement a little?
Most small sites on working farms are restricted to non productive areas, scrubby woods where eejits who are prepared to drive through brambles and carp that some would spend time attacking with a heavy flail. We have lost a few over the years with SSSI's being slapped on them.
The thing is that it's your land and you say where they can go and if you end up with mess that you need to reinstate then you have to ask yourself who's at fault. If they have strayed away from where you told them then a knock on their door will sort it out.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Nope, not remotely tempted. Insurance is my cost you say? How much would that be? I need to set up the tape and make sure they don’t stray - that’s my time and time is money. Then I have people in my space, so it’s not my private property any more. Muddy mess means soil damage, oil spills carries liability. Tracks will remove the land from BPS claim…
All of which are major points to dwell on when thinking about it. The insurance point is why I suggested only allowing Clubs with their own liability insurance, that can be costing anything from £200 to plus £600 pa.
If I owned land I would be very much like yourself, it would only happen if I had some really rough wasteland and wouldn't be far away with access to a big stick to keep all in check.
Yes I do come across as a hypocrite but I do like to think that all the days where my name is the first on the list when there's a problem between the land owner and the Club both parties have been satisfied with their time spent there
it could also have inheritance tax implications as no longer agricultural land.
no doubt it will work for some people but i wouldn't bother unless there was substantially more money offered.
- Location
- sw scotland
If you feed cattle outside then you have a ready made site, there will be plenty of deep ruts and mud. Couldn't really cause much more damage than there is already.
not if its less than 28days it stays agricultural and no planning needed
Agreed
tullah
Member
- Location
- Linconshire
Has the government agreed to 56 days for the coming year for campers?
Give it a go. You can always say no to the next one. My father did it years ago, you get some prats who will go where they please even going so far as unchaining a gate to get to where they wanted to go. These people want to get stuck in the mud, be winched out by their mates and go back to the city absolutely caked in mud, so if you have areas on farm that they can do this that doesnt get in the way of your own things then crack on.