Things are looking up for mountain bikers grounded by ridiculous local access restrictions.

The government has advised the local authorities to review rights of way closures on a case by case basis, and open as many ‘low risk’ trails in time for Easter. Although some areas where this enlightened previously, many councils just threw down knee jerk blanket bans which are far easier to reinforce and administrate. Now the government wants them to re-open as many paths as possible starting with the more popular ones.

Outdoorsmagic.com led with this story and have full details and relevant links on their site. Don’t expect anything to happen overnight though, and not without some sort of pressure. The Rights of Way sections of local authorities are notoriously underfunded and overburdened and given half the chance they’ll probably take the easier option of leaving rights of way shut. The answer would seem to be pestering the council about getting as many “low risk” routes open as soon as possible, until the signs actually start coming down. Be realistic though, asking to have routes through livestock fields and farms opened is probably just going to waste their time and patience.