Meeting of the Parliament 12 December 2024
I congratulate David Torrance on today’s debate on Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club’s success in securing a significant award from Foundation Scotland’s tackling inequalities fund.
This is not the first time that I have highlighted the work of Kingdom Off Road in the chamber. I pay tribute to the work of David Paton and his team for establishing the charity, investing their time and resources into the local community, and I recognise their efforts on expanding and growing what they have to offer.
I first met David Paton, who co-founded the charity, around 2014 when I was supporting my constituent Shelagh Cooper, who had had a terrible experience with someone riding an off-road bike illegally, which resulted in the death of her dog from injuries.
I became involved in campaigning to tackle antisocial behaviour on off-road and quad bikes, and I held a number of round-table events and meetings across my region. In 2015, I led a members’ business debate, which members of Kingdom Off Road attended. Shelagh supported the work that it was doing. Since then, I have supported and promoted the work that the club does and have argued for that approach to become more widespread.
As David Paton has said, Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club was established in response to a community crisis. Young people were tearing around Levenmouth illegally on off-road bikes, risking injury to themselves and to others. Although dealing with the issue is partly the responsibility of the police, they cannot do that alone, and their ability to fine or arrest people is limited by the nature of the offence.
Kingdom Off Road was set up to offer a different solution. Through a referral system, with support from community workers, the police and local schools, young people are identified and offered a programme that covers topics such as the victims’ perspectives, the law, responsible riding, accidents and incidents, and riding on a motocross track. The programme has made a huge difference to many young people in the area by offering them an alternative to antisocial and risky behaviour. They learn bike maintenance and how to ride responsibly, and the programme has been shown to improve school attendance, health and focus.
As the motion recognises, the work of the club has supported a significant decrease in related antisocial behaviour in recent years. That has involved a concentrated focus on tackling the issue in Levenmouth, with local councillors, the police, community workers and activists co-ordinating activity and using a multipronged approach, which has included making physical changes to the landscape to make riding more difficult and focused efforts to gather intelligence and approach offenders.
Last week, I met police officers in Kirkcaldy to raise constituents’ concerns about antisocial behaviour on off-road bikes and quad bikes in an area of Kirkcaldy. I am pleased that the police will work with local stakeholders to target that area, but there remain limitations on what the police can do, and they rely on local intelligence to identify riders. We need to make sure that police across Scotland are able to share best practice, and that a method that is successful in one area—in a recent debate, Jackie Dunbar mentioned the use of spray paint in Aberdeen to identify riders and bikes—is available in others across the country.
The police successfully seize bikes, which are not always collected. I worked with Kingdom Off Road to establish a route for it to access those bikes and use them for its programmes, and that initiative is running successfully.
In the past few years, from its base in Levenmouth, Kingdom Off Road has developed its outdoor track at Cardenden. It is a valuable resource that provides affordable access to a legal off-road motorbike track. It is a controlled area that allows adults, children and young people to enjoy off-road tracks, and a facility that is much needed in the area. If riders have the resources to buy, maintain and fuel a bike, and they have a vehicle to move the bike around, they should ride responsibly to access the site. The costs involved—annual family membership costs from £30 and track fees cost between £15 and £25—are reasonable for such activity.
As we approach Christmas, the cost of off-road bikes has reduced significantly due to the availability of cheaper imports. We should make it clear to people that they cannot be ridden in local parks or on footpaths, and that it is illegal to do so. I have previously expressed concern about the Government’s weak response, but I hope that recent events will focus the Government’s mind on what positive actions can be taken.
The longer-term goal of Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club is to open an indoor all-weather track. A similar facility used to exist and was very popular. That would provide a year-round facility. I will support the provision of such a facility in any way that I can, and I wish the club well in those efforts and all its future endeavours.
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