Shawclough & Healey June 2021

Protecting Local Moorland
by Partnership Working
During the last decade,
our local moorland has
been subject to increasing
erosion, much of it caused by
inappropriate and illegal use
by off-road motorcycles and
4x4 drivers.
The activities of these individuals and
groups not only destroys the enjoyment
of legitimate users such as walkers,
riders, runners and cyclists, but also has
significant environmental consequences.
Our ancient peat moors act as carbon
sink, capturing greenhouse gases from
the atmosphere and making a small
but significant contribution to slowing
down global warming. When our moors
are damaged and degraded, they
release captured carbon, reversing the
beneficial effects of capture. Evidence
of this erosion is clearly visible to anyone
who ventures on Scout, Knowl or Rooley
Moors . The ruts and tracks caused by
inappropriate use are making areas of
this unique habitat almost impassable;
worse still the state of the surface is
causing serious harm. A recent broadcast
by Rossendale Mountain Rescue made
it clear that, in recent years, there have
been increasingly frequent calls to assist
people who have experienced lower limb
dislocations and fractures, because of
the state of the surface, a situation made
worse by the increasingly hazardous
rescue routes.
Many people appear to see illegal offroading
on local moors as a “victimless
crime“; this is not the case, the damage
to this environment affects the ability of
Commoners to graze cattle and make a
living in the traditional way. The situation
is made worse when cattle and sheep are
harassed and distressed by these antisocial
groups and individuals. Recently,
some horse riders and passers-by were
assaulted by a group of motorcyclists
in Birtle. These individuals were so
determined to evade capture that, in an
effort to escape, they rampaged through
Ashworth Valley destroying fences, gates
and dry-stone walls as they went.
This is clearly a situation which cannot
and should not continue unchecked. Our
local police forces are using significant
amounts of their scarce resources to
deal with the problem, their frequent
operations across all local moorland have
apprehended not only riders and drivers
from our local area, but some from as far
afield as Merseyside, Wales and in one
case Edinburgh!
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