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Henry Webster:
I have done a bit of reading around and can tell you that it is being taken very seriously.  What it comes down to is that DEFRA is advising that Motorsport is inconsistent with agriculture and therefore anyone allowing motorsport events (and that would include playdays) on their land might be jeopardising their subsidy.  Effectively this will cause the availability of land to drop yet further and the price to rise.

The MSA (Motor Sports Association) reckon it could threaten 50% of UK motorsport events.

I'm not usually a big fan of online petitions, but I feel that this issue warrants a response and the MSA and Motorsport News are encouraging people to sign up.  If you want to do some reading around then have a look at the links below.

Have a read of the links below and then sign the petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/som/petition.html,this is a very serious threat!

This is a link to the latest news section of the Motor Sports Association website:

http://www.msauk.org/admin/news/ListNewsView.asp

LARA is the motoring organisations' Land Access and Recreation Association, who are helping to overturn the threat - lots of useful info here.

http://www.laragb.org/

Bike sport is also affected - this is the link to the Auto Cycle Union (Governing body for motorbike sport.)

http://www.acu.org.uk/

Regards

Henry

muddyweb:

--- Quote from: "Henry Webster" ---I have done a bit of reading around and can tell you that it is being taken very seriously.  What it comes down to is that DEFRA is advising that Motorsport is inconsistent with agriculture and therefore anyone allowing motorsport events (and that would include playdays) on their land might be jeopardising their subsidy.  
--- End quote ---


Yes.... but before anyone starts ringing alarm bells, you need to know what proportion of land currently in use for motorsport is currently in the subsidy scheme.  None of ours is, so it won't make the slightest difference to events here.

I'm not saying we shouldn't take the issue seriously, but I seem to remember the harbingers of doom proclaiming the 'end of motorsport' a while ago when DEFRA made some recommendations....   2 years on, it never materialised.

muddyweb:
Just an afterthought, and I know some land owners are already doing so, there is often more money to be had from the occasional and legal use of land by motorsport than there is from subsidy anyway, so all we need to do is get the land owners on our side and the issue is much reduced anyway.

Henry Webster:
Agreed, Tim I am always keen to err on the side of caution, but I think that where organisations such as LARA, the MSA and the ACU are looking at this as an urgent priority and have advised people to sign the petition then I too am keen to encourage people to sign up.

I have to admit that I do not understand all the issues, but there are plenty of people more capable than me who do.  

Your second afterthought there is a poignant one
--- Quote ---I know some land owners are already doing so, there is often more money to be had from the occasional and legal use of land by motorsport than there is from subsidy anyway, so all we need to do is get the land owners on our side and the issue is much reduced anyway.
--- End quote ---


Absolutely right - however it is another obstacle for the landowner to deal with before they allow motorsport to take place and it will put even more landowners off getting involved.  We are short enough of good venues without any further obstacles getting in the way.

I am also particularly worried about the grass roots use of farmland for sport.  My old student motorclub used to borrow a field in exchange for a bottle of whisky.  This just wouldn't be worth the farmers while in terms of time alone, checking whether this may impact him let alone cover any shortfall in subsidy.

Getting landowners on side is something that I and the organizations that I am involved with take very seriously.  I doubt this ruling would have a strong effect on the big motorsport events like the Hillrallies and BORC, but could have a major effect on grass roots events such as club trials, autotests, gymkhanas etc.

Thanks for your thoughts.

H

muddyweb:

--- Quote from: "Henry Webster" ---I am also particularly worried about the grass roots use of farmland for sport.  My old student motorclub used to borrow a field in exchange for a bottle of whisky.  This just wouldn't be worth the farmers while in terms of time alone, checking whether this may impact him let alone cover any shortfall in subsidy.
--- End quote ---


I don't disagree at all, and it does need to be investigated, and I'm glad the relevant organisations are looking into it.

There are a couple of issues which also need to be factored in of course...  first off, many small farmers don't bother with the subsidy scheme because of the levels of bureacracy and complication involved in doing so.  The bottle of whisky for land deals can still exist for the folks who don't have subsidies.

Secondly, we often seem to forget that DEFRA is essentially a bunch of civil servants... they aren't politicians and have very little to do with the government.    Whilst a petition is good to show the level of people affected and who have an opinion, it reality I'm not sure they will pay it much heed.

Sorry if I seem to be negative about this, the last thing I want to see is the further reduction in available land, but I am concerned that no-one else seems to be publically presenting all the information and arguments.

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