Setting up an off roading site

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Well. I'm more than happy to come along and provide digger/dumper duties I know the owner of a local firm his son likes off road so I'm sure if it gets off the ground we can strike a deal that saves you and benefits lz
 
CharlieV8 said:
Thanks for all the information. The biggest hurdle is likely to be planning permission, but usually if you can demonstrate a very strong case and business proposal it can go in your favour. Luckily it would be based in an area well out of view of any residents, with the nearest properties a few miles away. There is plenty of private woodland around as well to hide it/absorb sound. It'd be based near carsington reservoir, between ashbourne and matlock.

I'm also looking into rage buggies, quad bikes, a safari track, baja rides, childrens karts and off roading, and some non motorised activities such as BMX, air rifles, archery, mountain biking, and possibly caly pigeon shooting. It all depends on the set up costs and investment required. As with anything, marketing and advertising to get people through the door will be essential if it ever gets set up.
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I'm just the other side of Ashbourne so can help you out all you need :)
 
CharlieV8 said:
Thanks for all the information. The biggest hurdle is likely to be planning permission, but usually if you can demonstrate a very strong case and business proposal it can go in your favour. Luckily it would be based in an area well out of view of any residents, with the nearest properties a few miles away. There is plenty of private woodland around as well to hide it/absorb sound. It'd be based near carsington reservoir, between ashbourne and matlock.

I'm also looking into rage buggies, quad bikes, a safari track, baja rides, childrens karts and off roading, and some non motorised activities such as BMX, air rifles, archery, mountain biking, and possibly caly pigeon shooting. It all depends on the set up costs and investment required. As with anything, marketing and advertising to get people through the door will be essential if it ever gets set up.
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You won't need planning permission if you only open something like 28 days of the year.

hence why most pay and play sites are only open for a limited time spread over the year.

Also with pay and play people will get bored quickly with your site. It is only natural that you can only drive the same routes so many times before it becomes repetitive.

For more information, PM me.
 
Funkykipper said:
You won't need planning permission if you only open something like 28 days of the year.

hence why most pay and play sites are only open for a limited time spread over the year.

Also with pay and play people will get bored quickly with your site. It is only natural that you can only drive the same routes so many times before it becomes repetitive.

For more information, PM me.
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Quite a few sites buy a digger and every month they change the course and the site around
 
lr-90 said:
Quite a few sites buy a digger and every month they change the course and the site around
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That all depends what kind of site you've got, yes if you've got a quarry it's fairly simple but rotatiing routes within a forest isn't so simple or environmentally friendly.
 
Funkykipper said:
You won't need planning permission if you only open something like 28 days of the year.

hence why most pay and play sites are only open for a limited time spread over the year.

Also with pay and play people will get bored quickly with your site. It is only natural that you can only drive the same routes so many times before it becomes repetitive.

For more information, PM me.
Click to expand...

Will you give him accurate information if he PM's you :confused: :p

It's only 14 days of alterantvie use of farm land without planning permission when the alternative use relates to vehicles or motor sports.
28 days is for things like clay pigeon shooting,

you also can't have a caravan site unless you have planning permission, so, people couldn't camp and use the P&P site without planning permission.

Sites of special scientific interest can't be used for anything at all without planning.

See here: http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/resources/000/020/065/planning-guide.pdf
Section B3.



Oh and if you read his posts he's referring to having it as a proper site which is open all year round and people can hire 4x4's and do other similar sports, so, 14 days a year isn't really going to cut it for him :)
 
What ever happens, well done for at least investigating the possibilty! As said, small sites quickly become repetitive so put yer thinking cap on;) If yer local to Ashbourne, you will know the Biggin site.Interesting for a while then gets quickly "been there & done it"!! Innovation is whats needed.
 
How big s the estate? What kind of terrain is it.

You know the tree hungers will be all over you to start with, I think you may need permission too. A friend set up a bike track on his land and had loads of issues with permission.

See if St. John's will attend on big days that will help safety a little and have emergency response close at hand should they need it.

Personally I would make a good farm ride for horses. There's plenty of horses round there and not enough places to ride with good gallops and good jumps. Have a look at what somerfird park farm have done, if your estate is big enough it's a good money spinner.

You could even find a way to combine the two and get the best of both worlds.

I have both horses and a landrover so what everbyoubdecide count me in!
 
gavbriggs said:
Personally I would make a good farm ride for horses. There's plenty of horses round there and not enough places to ride with good gallops and good jumps. Have a look at what somerfird park farm have done, if your estate is big enough it's a good money spinner.
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Making a horse site actually pay is next to impossible. It involves stupidly long hours and hard work for very minimal return. Most people seem to run them for the sake of loving horses. From a business point of view they don't work.
 
Thanks for the feedback, there's plenty of ideas there.

We are actually looking into leasing some of the land for a horse riding school, with some hacks and eventing type routes. However, this is not something that we will run.

Caravans will not be a problem. We already own a caravan site on the estate and this is run by the caravan club. If it did go ahead, then it might be possible to have special offers for people who are staying on the caravan site.

By the sounds of it, I think the best thing to do will be to get a few clubs over and have a drive around. It won't be great as there aren't any purpose build tracks, but it will give an idea of the lie of the land.
 
CharlieV8 said:
By the sounds of it, I think the best thing to do will be to get a few clubs over and have a drive around. It won't be great as there aren't any purpose build tracks, but it will give an idea of the lie of the land.
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Sounds like a good plan... do you have a digger to hand... you could adapt as you go ;)
 
I don't....yet, but will clearly be something to invest in. A couple of us are going to have a bit of a recce at some point in the next couple of months and a good drive around. We might do a bit of initial clearing and then get a club involved.
 
CharlieV8 said:
I don't....yet, but will clearly be something to invest in. A couple of us are going to have a bit of a recce at some point in the next couple of months and a good drive around. We might do a bit of initial clearing and then get a club involved.
Click to expand...

Jcb would be ok. But a decent digger to make more complicated corses. Any landscape companies near you may get a on going contract where they will come along and adjust it every couple of months.
 
or you could ask Mr. Bamford if he'd like a new "test site" for a few months... given that he's only down the road... :D
 
hi charliev8,

depending on your location, im close by too and be more than willing to help out where i can.

a little idea that does create some free revenue is rc, crawling and scaling would only require a 25 sq metre piece of land and courses/trails can be done by hand too.
we usually pay between £5-10 each per day to use these now and with almost zero impact on the land and nothing from your own pocket could be a little money spinner to help fund other parts of the off-roading bit.

i know a few guys that would be up for doing a rc scaling/crawling course too, provided access could be had by car, it would be a winner.

otherwise im happy to help you wherever possible....
 
Im sure youve had a few PM's about this by now. If the chaps from first overland are interested, id be willing to come and help out in the countryside as well, if im in the UK that is.

A day working a being social sounds spiffing :D
 
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