Own a wood... Had an idea
Discussion
I own a fairly secluded/remote woodland of ~4 acres in the SE. I've been toying with the idea of renting it out to local MX and 4x4 clubs for a day at a time and now think I'm going to bite the bullet, but does anyone have any experience here? I know that letting clubs use it rather than Pay & Play etc is a lot easier/cheaper/less stressful as they provide mostly everything. As far as I'm aware all I'd need to provide would be portaloos, and secure fencing, and they do the rest.
I've looked into Public Liability Insurance and planning concerns, but as far as I can tell, you're permitted to do 14 days a year without planning consent. Currently I'm just using it for private 4x4 use with friends.
Has anyone ever done this? And is 4 acres going to be big enough? There is another woodland near me that is about 1.7 acres according to their website and they use that for Motocross events occasionally in summer.
I've looked into Public Liability Insurance and planning concerns, but as far as I can tell, you're permitted to do 14 days a year without planning consent. Currently I'm just using it for private 4x4 use with friends.
Has anyone ever done this? And is 4 acres going to be big enough? There is another woodland near me that is about 1.7 acres according to their website and they use that for Motocross events occasionally in summer.
Hey!
Is it only 14 days? I recall 28 days, but maybe it depends on the kind of event. I used to help manage festivals.
Rules on "events" only kick in when things start getting bigger. The bigger it gets the more rules you need to meet. Eventually, once it gets big enough you need to submit things like traffic management plans, and I even had to take water samples to a lab to confirm the tap water is ok for drinking!
You could open it up yourself as a pay and play. It will start small and as money comes in and people get to know you then you can recruit volunteers, and fund whatever you need.
Or, as you suggest, open it to a club and let them worry about it all!
Whichever route you take I would budget for the fact that you will need to do some land management, so fixing any damaged tracks, and maybe even putting in some new features and obstacles and things.
Is it only 14 days? I recall 28 days, but maybe it depends on the kind of event. I used to help manage festivals.
Rules on "events" only kick in when things start getting bigger. The bigger it gets the more rules you need to meet. Eventually, once it gets big enough you need to submit things like traffic management plans, and I even had to take water samples to a lab to confirm the tap water is ok for drinking!
You could open it up yourself as a pay and play. It will start small and as money comes in and people get to know you then you can recruit volunteers, and fund whatever you need.
Or, as you suggest, open it to a club and let them worry about it all!
Whichever route you take I would budget for the fact that you will need to do some land management, so fixing any damaged tracks, and maybe even putting in some new features and obstacles and things.
My advice is that 4 acres it not really big enough for what you want to do.
I think you will find that your 4 acres of secluded woodland will turn into a 4 acre muddy field after a dozen 4x4s have spent the day driving all over it.
You could mark out specific routes and try and rotate them to prevent to much damage but with only four acres the routes are going to be a bit limited.
I think you will find that your 4 acres of secluded woodland will turn into a 4 acre muddy field after a dozen 4x4s have spent the day driving all over it.
You could mark out specific routes and try and rotate them to prevent to much damage but with only four acres the routes are going to be a bit limited.
I think the other thing I would also need is a fairly capable off roader to round people up in at the end of the pay and play days. It's also the recovery vehicle if people get stuck and stranger doesn't lend a hand.
The owner of Devils Pit in Bedfordshire has a very beaten up V8 disco running tractor treads. It has nothing fancy, but it can recover anything from anywhere on the course.
The owner of Devils Pit in Bedfordshire has a very beaten up V8 disco running tractor treads. It has nothing fancy, but it can recover anything from anywhere on the course.
I've been to a couple of club events at small wooded areas. Probably no bigger than 4 acres. They work OK, but do get churned up pretty quickly. Plus you always get somebody doing something stupid! Assume the wood has some decent "bomb holes" or similar to keep people interested?
Don't suppose it would be a huge money spinner (although it is a nice thing to do for the offroad community particularly in SE where choice is limited). Max you would get is £25 per vehicle and on a small site you would probably limit it to 15 vehicles. By the time you've hired some portaloos, and done some remedial work to the site a couple of times a year to keep it usable imagine profits would be small. Unless of course you have your own JCB...
Also be wary that a lot of mud tends to get dragged on to local roads when folk leave, possibility you might up up with a bill from the local council to clean the roads?
Don't suppose it would be a huge money spinner (although it is a nice thing to do for the offroad community particularly in SE where choice is limited). Max you would get is £25 per vehicle and on a small site you would probably limit it to 15 vehicles. By the time you've hired some portaloos, and done some remedial work to the site a couple of times a year to keep it usable imagine profits would be small. Unless of course you have your own JCB...
Also be wary that a lot of mud tends to get dragged on to local roads when folk leave, possibility you might up up with a bill from the local council to clean the roads?
PaulV said:
How about letting it be used for trialling if it is gnarly enough?
Clubs are always looking for new sites.
Would need room for 8 or so sections for it to work.
It wouldn't end up all turned into a quagmire like a pay & play would do.
Exactly this. Pay and play will kill 4 acres o f land very quickly and you wouldn't be able to charge a lot for a small site. But Trialing might work they only need space for 2 courses. Find a local club and invite them over. Clubs are always looking for new sites.
Would need room for 8 or so sections for it to work.
It wouldn't end up all turned into a quagmire like a pay & play would do.
West4x4 said:
PaulV said:
How about letting it be used for trialling if it is gnarly enough?
Clubs are always looking for new sites.
Would need room for 8 or so sections for it to work.
It wouldn't end up all turned into a quagmire like a pay & play would do.
Exactly this. Pay and play will kill 4 acres o f land very quickly and you wouldn't be able to charge a lot for a small site. But Trialing might work they only need space for 2 courses. Find a local club and invite them over. Clubs are always looking for new sites.
Would need room for 8 or so sections for it to work.
It wouldn't end up all turned into a quagmire like a pay & play would do.
Have to be realistic about money, clubs will normally want to pay £80-120 for a site, else it isn't financially viable. You won't need to provide anything however, just access.
Depending where you are in the SE, I may be able to put you in contact with some people.
The actual site will need to be suitable for events however.
Wow. I'd like to know where all these £80 sites are!
The average I used to pay when I ran trials was £200.
Saturday setup is not always required, just get on site early Sunday
Motorsport use is the land owners best bet, the club will have it's own insurance, most usually from the MSA.
The average I used to pay when I ran trials was £200.
Saturday setup is not always required, just get on site early Sunday
Motorsport use is the land owners best bet, the club will have it's own insurance, most usually from the MSA.
Prices can vary. I thought it best to set the starting expectations lower, rather than higher. Too high and clubs simply won't be able to afford to use them. And 4 acres of woodland may have limited potential (it may not).
I ran even this weekend, probably on something of similar size or slightly bigger. We had 8 RTV sections setup, although you might have been able to squeeze 10 sections on there.
If you have a reasonable number of competitors, you'll need to setup the day before. Takes way too long otherwise. It took us about 5 hours to setup 8 sections when all said and done.
I ran even this weekend, probably on something of similar size or slightly bigger. We had 8 RTV sections setup, although you might have been able to squeeze 10 sections on there.
If you have a reasonable number of competitors, you'll need to setup the day before. Takes way too long otherwise. It took us about 5 hours to setup 8 sections when all said and done.
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