Forest gumps change tack!
By TMX Archives on 28th Feb 11
IT'S not often that we get to celebrate a victory' over the government of the day but last week was one such to remember. As we have previously reported, they were planning an ill-conceived sell-off of Forestry Commission land and presumably expected little opposition as they softly flagged it up as a consultation exercise.
The reaction from the general public shocked all concerned right up to and including the Prime Minister. Over 500,000 people had signed a single petition (and there was more than one doing the rounds) in a matter of days, registering their opposition to the sell-off which was seen by most as being the thin end of a wedge that would eventually see the general public lose most or all of their current rights of access and use of Forestry Commission run woods and forests as the new, private, owners inevitably put up the shutters.
Walkers, horse riders and cyclists all saw the threat, as did those who use the forests for various sporting and leisure reasons – including motor and motor-cycle sport organisers. In motorcycling the threat was to enduros and hare and hound type events while the Motor Sports Association (MSA) saw car rallying as under severe threat.
As the MSA currently pays something like £850,000 a year to the Forestry Commission in fees for rally stages it can hardly be described as small beer!
In fact the MSA has subsequently issued a warning that all is not over on the forestry front as the government is to establish an "...independent panel of experts' – (your guess is as good as mine as to what comprises an expert) – "to look at public access and biodiversity within the publicly owned woodland.” The MSA promises to ‘keep up the pressure in Westminster' on behalf of motorsports because, as they say, the interests of the walkers and horse riders and cyclists will indeed be heard rather than our own.
Personally, I am pleased on many fronts that the Forestry Commission land remains in public ownership and am equally happy that many people will enjoy the benefits, whatever sport or pastime they pursue. But I have an idea that this will ultimately prove to have just been a battle that has been ‘won'. The war will no doubt prove to be a long-running one, as those involving governments and authority in general usually are. One thing's for certain, we at T+MX will be keeping a close eye on the situation. As those worthy individuals who constantly fight to keep our remaining few rights of way open know only too well – these problems never go away.
You will read elsewhere in this issue that following-on from the exciting if unlikely revival of the Ossa brand (unlikely in this uncertain economic climate) yet another off-road motorcycle manufacturer is about to spring-up in Spain.
No less a person than seven times World Trials Champ, Jordi Tarres, is involved, as the company's name Jotagas (JTG) tends to suggest.
This all-new business, currently setting-up in shiny new premises, is being funded to the tune of several million Euros by local funding in the Zaragoza region and tied to the university there.
Now, we are told that Spain is in a comparable economic state (if not worse) to our own so this represents a considerable amount of confidence and one would have thought a similar amount of risk.
Now, I'm all for moving forward and confidence is the one thing that all economies are desperately seeking at the moment, but is another new trials manufacturer what we need just now?
We currently have Gas Gas, Sherco, Scorpa, Beta, Montesa and Ossa as volume manufacturers and while all are currently holding their own I would think it fair to say that all have spare capacity.
It's not that I'm against competition – far from it – and in a booming economy we'd be doing backflips, but if we get too much over-capacity we may lose more than just the one odd company.
Montesa apart, which is actually Honda, most of the other trials companies are small fry in the great scheme of things and totally reliant on their trials bike sales. There's no relatively stable road bike or scooter division to keep them ticking over.
So while the project is an exciting one in isolation I don't expect the other factories, doing their best to stay afloat by their own efforts, will exactly be doing cartwheels.
On a similar theme, while attending the recent Telford Classic Show, it was both uplifting while at the same time ultimately frustrating to see what talented engineers we still have in Britain.
There were many examples of impeccable engine work, superb chassis building, quality wheels, sprockets, handlebars etc, fabulous alloy shaping and fabrication and super exhausts.
In fact, why of why (Triumph aside) do we not have a self contained motorcycle industry?
If they can do it in Spain, it ought to be a breeze in Britain!...