Epping Forest warning from forest keeper

[Stilli]

does it means I can use it on public roads?

As long as it's Taxed and Insured I'm sure it would be fine  :-)

Another reason for not letting run an ic vehicle on forestry land would be the fire risk, may not be so risky this time of the year but a blanket ban is easier to enforce than seasonal allowances, consideration also has to be given to animal life that can be disrupted as unnatural noise can disturb many animals and prevent them from living and breeding in the area . I would go along with the others that have posted here and suggest that you try and discuss it politely with the guy (who is after all only doing his job to protect the environment), if you can convince him that you are responsible and concerned about safety, preservation and consideration of animal life he may be able to suggest a place that is suitable for you to run your car.

[boloney]

For now I would't go there as I don't have spare money to pay fine

Will have to try find new spot, the only problem is I don't drive and will have to try get my yama on pcx 125 it could be tricky

[A Return]

ive run my nitro 8ight in various places, figuring if we use it in a place that isnt going to disturb someones day, we'll carry on until someone tell us to move on. Once, out in the countryside in a wooded car park i was aware of people walking their dogs, so when people came back too their cars, ours went off. The warden came and spoke to us and we thought 'oh no here we go' but he said he'd watched us for some of the day and said he had to shut the gate, but we were welcome to come back in and carry on. On a sunday In a hospital carpark (the empty end, not my idea and i didnt think it would last long) security walked over, and just watched, asked questions, watched some more and left us too it, Sometimes i expect to get moved on, but it never has happened so far, though there was a time my mate decided to fire his up in a town centre, outside some houses, in a carpark, at 23.30. A lady came out in her dressing gown and kicked his car. Fair play.

[RCbutcher]

Tye world's getting crazy. A woman in usa was arrested for letting her kids play out on scooters. She was watching them from the porch the charge. Endangering her children's lives.

 

A neighbor reported her, the cop saw fit to proceed thankfully it was dropped later. Now the woman is sueing the neighbor,  cop and city. I hope she wins. 

 

If they can fine it they'll enforce it the cops need those bmws.

 

I doubt this would happen in the Midlands or north but london sounds about right. The precious lil bits of green need protecting lol.

Edited February 22, 2015 by RCbutcher

[boloney]

I doubt this would happen in the Midlands or north but london sounds about right. The precious lil bits of green need protecting lol.

if there was something to protect

some ducks, few Swans and plenty of rats and fox`es

I`m sure they wanna protect rats

I will give them a brak for few weeks and than see what`s happen next

[lazkopat]

Try wanstead flats for a change if you've got warned. I'm not far from whipps cross as I'm at stratford. Perhaps we could meet up for bash sometime

[boloney]

Try wanstead flats for a change if you've got warned. I'm not far from whipps cross as I'm at stratford. Perhaps we could meet up for bash sometime

Wansted flats is`t it part of the same forest?

sure, let me know when you going out and we can meet.

[Mr Drifta]

We have Colchester united football ground here, its a HUGE place,all tarmac no houses for a good distance...

Used too go up on non match days and early evenings blast the nitro's...

Always respected the place,and appreciated that technically we weren't entitled too be there and all was well,security were excellent with us and the like then one day we were told we couldn't use it no more as boy racers had basically upset everyone.

Really sucks when us rc boys get tarred or loose a place, understandable of course but its a real shame..police said we were cool in their op as there had been alot of thefts up there and they felt it was quite good someone were about.

Sadly unless you know or own the land you are very rarely ever going to be accepted with an rc.

[boloney]

they responded to my email.

seems like there is nothing I can do

Byelaw 45 covers the use of such vehicles and has been used previously to successfully prosecute people using model cars at the Magistrates Court.

Improperly using or disfiguring the Forest

(45) Making any improper or offensive use of any part of the Forest or doing anything tending to the injury or disfigurement thereof or to the defeat of the general purposes of the Epping Forest Act 1878 or of these byelaws.

I hope this answers your enquiry.

[Tug]

Is that gassers, gassers and nitro? It can't include leccy, surely?

[Noj]

Crawlerzzzzzz may be allowed, they aren't likely to 'disfigure' the forest by leaving parallel 11s and the like

[Karl Hungus]

they responded to my email.

seems like there is nothing I can do

Byelaw 45 covers the use of such vehicles and has been used previously to successfully prosecute people using model cars at the Magistrates Court.

Improperly using or disfiguring the Forest

(45) Making any improper or offensive use of any part of the Forest or doing anything tending to the injury or disfigurement thereof or to the defeat of the general purposes of the Epping Forest Act 1878 or of these byelaws.

I hope this answers your enquiry.

 

All of this is highly subjective and open to the interpretation of as a good a lawyer as you have at your disposal. 'Improper' and 'offensive' need to be defined in the legislature precisely (and probably are) but sending you this is just usual government scaremongering.

 

Personally I dislike small dogs so a jack russel ****ting in the woods and scratching earth/grass over it would be a completely illegal act, number of prosecutions for that?!

 

EDIT just googled it: https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/epping-forest/about-us/Documents/epping-forest-byelaws.pdf

 

More likely to be considered a nuisnace to others. Electric would also fall under this. There are no stipulations for model cars only aircraft so If you wanted to use it I would contact the conservator asking for permission to do so. They may offer an area where this is possible though they may likely still frown upon nitro due to the noise.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Karl Hungus

[Tug]

I'm liking him! ^

[Tug]

Crawlerzzzzzz may be allowed, they aren't likely to 'disfigure' the forest by leaving parallel 11s and the like

I'm not going there for a nap! I simply can't see me ever owning crawlerzzzzzz

[Aredeth90]

Wimbledon Common, got a warden on a horse telling me politely that the parks doesn't allow any rc's, checked the Bylaws when i got home and there was nothing saying about any models or so, i run a Twin Hammers brushless, and i was in the middle of the forest with no one around but my fiance reading a book on a log.

 

Last month i've been in Epping with it, and nobody cared, except some ladies on horses that asked me politely to stop the car as the horses we're afraid of it, which i did, waited for them to pass and get back to it.

 

So really, in my local park (Clissold Park in Stokie), i've seen people drive nitros/petrol, on a sunny day with plenty of kids/dogs around and nobody complained or any of the wardens kicking them out, yet in a huge forest you can't have a little fun.

 

So where in North London can we get some nice dirt tracks/jumps/ twirly roads in a forest or field, and just be let alone and not offend anyone? 

[Tamiyacowboy]

Well guys, 

 

 

 

google map - bing maping. 

 

small wooded areas, NOT huge woodlands and forrests, think smaller.

driving into the countryside you tend to see farmer fields, and small woodlands.

this is where your people skills come in. 

 

talking to farmers and offering a service to them, an extra set of eye in the fields

able to keep an eye on the crops and the land/and bylanes , and also his animals.

all you want to do is play rc, so explain what you would like to do. 

 

ie race your cars around on some loose dirt, explain that a small area of wooded land he has on is property

has caught your eye as a very nice quiet area away from everyone. you would be willing to help him manpower

wise to keep the area natural ( ie you AINT GONNA BE DIGGING unless he says its ok ) more so clearing a path way /walking track

where you could bomb around with your machines. 

 

 

Animals these are a farmers wallet, so if your willing to keep an eye out for poorly cattle etc etc is helpful

and willing to keep the noise down to a minimum, with leccy its fairly easy, gasser and nitro are somewhat harder.

if you get permission, each year at the end a small chip in between everyone for a bottle of plonk.

this is given to the farmer in way of a thank you for him being a nice person and allowing you to keep your hobby alive. 

 

 

some will say No but others will allow you to use their tracks leading to fields. 

have a couple quad pilots ? take these lads with you to and machines. 

explain you would like to use drones to capture buggy footage but you could also use said video to show him his land from above.

as long as you DO NOT take payment for that video footage and it DOES NOT earn you money, your legal.

 

 

Old building sites, reclamation areas , contacting the owners/contractor can be helpful to. your like a security guard

people dont do bad things when others are around like flytipping etc etc. so you being on there can hinder these wrong doings going on.

BMX tracks not ideal, they are hardcore based so rip up more easy , your more likely to be kicked of a BMX track than you would be a motorcross track.

 

like metal detecting you just dont go out and dig holes, you must communicate with people and have those people skills in place.

same with rc, just turning up and going all out tends to end with angry folks. so give them the choice. say your willing to run electric machines to keep the noise to a very bare

minimum, if need be. Show them your models so they know -see -understand what you do as a hobby to. 

 

 

you will be suprised at what is about if you use bing and google and people skills.

[Aredeth90]

Hi guys, so after emailing most of the green spaces north of me, i finally got a response from Epping Forrest, not really pleased with what they came up with, there we go: 

 

"Thank you for contacting Epping Forest.

 

Firstly, in regards to your paying of tax to maintain the Forest I believe you may be mistaking Epping Forest for Lea Valley Park which is maintained from funds collected from Council Tax payments from the surrounding Local Authorities including yours. Let me reassure you that your taxes do not contribute to the management and maintenance of Epping Forest which is owned and managed by the City of London.

 

Secondly, we do not permit the use of remote controlled cars in Epping Forest and have successfully prosecuted those who have done in the past. We have a number of user groups utilising the Forest so there are very few remote areas that your activity would not disturb.

 

Relevant Bye-Laws:

 

Using vehicles, etc to the danger of the public

(10) Driving, moving, or using a bicycle, tricycle or vehicle upon the Forest to the danger, injury, annoyance or inconvenience of the public.

 

 

Improperly using or disfiguring the Forest

(45) Making any improper or offensive use of any part of the Forest or doing anything tending to the injury or disfigurement thereof or to the defeat of the general purposes of the Epping Forest Act 1878 or of these byelaws.

 

 

I hope this helps and wish you luck in finding a suitable location for your activity.

 

Regards

 

Forest Keeper Mulleady

 

I will keep you posted if they reply again to my questions, since electric rc are not a vehicle, and if we do not disturb/destroy/annoy or hurt anyone they cannot take any legal action against us.

 

R

[tonysmini]

It sounds like they are using that bylaw as a 'but what if this happened!!' umbrella to cover all possible scenarios.

The 'annoyance of the public' quote is the killer there, all it needs is one complaint and they have got you.

[almighty15]

I would ask to see his data protection policy now that he has your personal information and take any legal action if

 

A) He doesn't have one

It isn't up to standard

 

I would also ask that the information he has on you be destroyed.

[Noj]

.....or put time and effort into finding a suitable location where your can bash without looking over your shoulder or running the risk of rc confiscation.

Fighting a losing battle, why prolong the agony? They have made a decision and are standing by it, further emails will achieve nothing, other than perhaps to further their negative impression of RC-ists.

Everyone has the right to ask a question, accepting the answer may not be what you want to hear. You asked, got the answer, matter closed. Move on.

[Aredeth90]

Noj, try to live in London then, everything is more expensive than the rest of the country, it's way crowded, and every park has a bylaw (the general, when we annoy someone 1 mile away with an electric) that restricts the use of RC cars.

 

Will talk with you then, when the safest place to bash is 10 miles from you behind an Ikea store, only after you give the guard a fiver for a pint.

 

I am waiting for his reply now, that i've asked what happens if literally no one complain if i play by myself in a really remote part of the forest with no trails/dogs/kids/bikes/birds/goose around.

 

If not i can always get a Baja, rip the place up, and other places, we get banned from everywhere and then we maybe unite and start asking for proper places to bash/drive/trail or what not with proper rules, sounds fair? (The anarchist speaking)

 

To be honest, bitching on the forums gets us nowhere, would love to have some places to run in london, where we cannot offend anyone with our silly and childish hobby as they like to point out.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Aredeth90

[almighty15]

Relevant Bye-Laws:

 

Using vehicles, etc to the danger of the public

(10) Driving, moving, or using a bicycle, tricycle or vehicle upon the Forest to the danger, injury, annoyance or inconvenience of the public.

 

 

Surely our RC's would be classed as 'toy' and not a vehicle, I certainly wouldn't class my RC as a vehicle, it's a toy meant for older age groups but none the less a toy.

 

 

Improperly using or disfiguring the Forest

(45) Making any improper or offensive use of any part of the Forest or doing anything tending to the injury or disfigurement thereof or to the defeat of the general purposes of the Epping Forest Act 1878 or of these byelaws.

 

There's not just RC's can damage the woodland..... dogs, children, push bikes....etc...etc..... so by the above they should be ban pretty much everything from entering the forest.

 

 

[almighty15]

Give me the email so I can email them and with them some grief and by grief I mean educate them on these 'laws'

Edited May 26, 2015 by almighty15

[lazkopat]

.....or put time and effort into finding a suitable location where your can bash without looking over your shoulder or running the risk of rc confiscation.

Fighting a losing battle, why prolong the agony? They have made a decision and are standing by it, further emails will achieve nothing, other than perhaps to further their negative impression of RC-ists.

Everyone has the right to ask a question, accepting the answer may not be what you want to hear. You asked, got the answer, matter closed. Move on.

Noj I guess your living in a wonderland mate as there is absolutely no place to drive our RCS in London without getting kicked off or a warning from forest and or park rangers. Its easy for the people living outside bigger cities or London as there are so many open green spaces to have fun with your rcs hence you would go unnoticeable.

Edited May 26, 2015 by lazkopat

[Noj]

So there is nowhere you can travel to for a bash? Find that hard to believe. I'm not unempathetic to your plight, just seems a waste of time challenging an organisation who see the world in black and white with no grey area, who will interpret rules to suit themselves only.

 

Plenty of no go areas where I was living in Leeds, all council managed land, been moved on myself... it's not all rosy oop north, tha knows.

 

As for living in London, I'd rather punch myself in the cock until I pass out thank you