Don't know if this has been posted before, it's a newspaper article in relation to Hawes being overrun by problem bikers!    There was a meeting on Monday evening according to the article, wonder what the outcome was!   http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/catterick/9...em_bikers/   Update:  I've just emailed who I hope is the correct person to ask what if any outcome had been reached.  I will feed any relevant information back as and when I get it                                                                                                                                                                              

"A PARISH council is to hold a public meeting in the hope of finding a solution to problems caused by bikers in a rural town.

Residents and business owners in Hawes, in Wensleydale, claim the town’s Market Place is overrun with bikers and their machines on sunny days, who park inconsiderately and can be hostile to locals.

Concerns have also been raised about the aggressive riding styles of some bikers on the country lanes, which lead to serious accidents every summer.

Coun John Blackie, chairman of Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council, said the public meeting will be a chance to come up with a solution to some of the problems.

He said: "I think we have reached a crisis point now and we do need to address the issues. As ever there have been some examples of dangerous and predatory riding on the roads in the Upper Dales already this spring.

"Hawes attracts more than the usual number of bikers and there have been times that the town has been completely overrun with motorcycles.

"There are lots of points of view but we need to come together and form one stance that we can work from to resolve the issues."

Representatives from North Yorkshire Police will attend the meeting, including Inspector Dave Brown, from the county-wide roads policing group and Inspector Mick Barron, of the local roads policing group.

Coun Blackie also hopes that senior members of groups that represent bikers will also attend to add to the debate.

The meeting will be held in the Gayle Institute, in Gayle, near Hawes, at 7.15pm on Monday."                                                                                                                                                                             

Only two comments to the article, an intelligent one;

"smoothnapper, catterick says... 
10:19pm Thu 2 Jun 11

what a complete load of rubbish, having being to Hawes a lot of times with the wife and sons, i have never seen any problems with bikers and locals, most of the people walking about enjoy looking over the bikes on display, i would like to know how many of the local shops would suffer in revenue if the bikers stayed away. also bear in mind that most of the bikers are middle aged and above."

and one from an idiot!;

"spragger, Richmond says... 
11:29pm Thu 2 Jun 11

The whole area is cursed with born again bikers

But with the attrition rate it could be a short run problem

Seen their overtaking?"                                                                                                                                                                             

Just received a response, very prompt.....   "There was a long discussion, and I haven't yet written up the Minutes. However, from memory, I think it's fair to say that the following actions may/will follow: the Council will seek permission of the Trustees who control the Penny Garth Car Park (adjacent to Hawes Market Hall) to make it a parking area for motor bikes at weekends. (We understand that this approach works satisfactorily at Helmsley.) This will initially be on a trial basis, supported by police on site. There will be signage and local publicity to support the venture Separately, the Police will enforce other parking laws more vigorously - such as yellow lines etc. There will be more monitoring of speed violations, and enforcement action, on the roads in and around Hawes. This will target all drivers - not just bikers.  I hope that helps Regards Ian King"   I'll contact him again in a week or so to see if the minutes record any additional/different information.                                                                                                                                                                             

Seems a good compromise to me.                                                                                                                                                                             

you get a very good cuppa at the cheese factory, there is a huge flat carpark and there is also free cheese!   what more could anyone want! have never quite understood why everyone seems to wants to try to get parked out side the cafe                                                                                                                                                                              

Cos they do amazing breakfasts!!                                                                                                                                                                             

mmmm but free cheese!!!! and clean toilets!!! and a nice car park!!!!                                                                                                                                                                             

I spent a very windy weekend on top of a mountain overlooking Hawes. We were freezing out nuts off counting walkers in and out of the check point and all I could hear on the radio net was how goos the bacon butties were down there. A local Farmer took pitty on us all and brought up a plate full of bacon butties. He even kept then warm by wrapping them in tin foil and siting the plate on top of the engine.

The cheese factory? Toilets...in the plural, do you mean more than one Julie!?? Do they do decent cake cos to be honest I've always been a bit disappointed by the cake at the cafe...if so, it's the cheese factory for me....and the embarassing wobble away from the cafe with everyone watching is so intimidating on a 125

  Thanks for the news item Blackberry and for the added info thanks Geoff.   Sounds like a similar argument that Matlock Bath residents came up with.   I would have thought that excluding cars from parking there on a Sunday would only make the natives more restless, or is the car park to be shared? The council doesn't say 'motorbikes only' parking.                                                                                                                                                                               

minnie the food at the cheese factory is excellent its a five min walk from the caff if you want to have a wander down there and leave the bike. My parking skills leave a lot to be desired so my attitude is anything to make life easier! its also a good place for a big ride out as you can always get a table, not like the caff and the staff are lovely, they dont even mind "grown ups" grabbing the crayons and having fun with the wallace and gromet colouring in!