Seven volunteers from the Humber-Yorks 4x4 Response, the Yorkshire Mud Runners and GLASS (the Green Lane Association) cleared Garton Balk of obstacles illegally blocking the lane and materials that had been fly tipped.

There have been a number of recent occurrences of the unsurfaced public road three miles to the East of Driffield being used for fly tipping and also the placement of obstacles across the lane, ranging from large lumps of concrete to fallen branches, in what appears to be a deliberate effort to obstruct the legal use of the road.

The Highways Department of East Riding of Yorkshire Council had previously been informed of the problem and had told volunteers: "With respect to such illegal obstructions unfortunately we are not always able to react as quickly as users would like in order to remove them. Should your members come across such items then the Highway Authority is happy for them to be removed by yourselves."

Garton Balk is an unsurfaced unclassified road. It is recorded on the Councils "List of Streets Maintainable at Public Expense" along with many other similar roads in the area.

These unsurfaced ways are used by all manner of people, dog walkers, horse riders and car drivers and obstructions such as those cleared by the volunteers impede or prevent the legal use of the lane by all such users.

As part of this clearance, the obstacles were either moved to one side or removed for responsible disposal in the case of those items obviously fly tipped.

Over hanging branches from trees and bushes growing alongside the lane were also pruned back. In general responsibility for such pruning lies with the land owner and can be enforced by the Council.

Following the works done the volunteers went for a drive around some of the other unsurfaced roads and byways in the area which were found to be unobstructed and free from fly tipping.

4x4 Response is a national network of volunteers with well maintained and equipped 4 wheel drive vehicles who are experienced in off road driving.
The Green Lane Association is a national user group protecting the heritage of ancient vehicular rights of way and promoting sensible driving in the countryside.