Dartmoor: Win or lose, we need new access legislation
Lewis Winks from the Right to Roam Campaign on we need new legislation to defend and extend our access to the countryside.
Wild camping – or ‘backpack’ camping as it is sometimes referred – relates to the practice of residing in a tent for no more than one night in open country which is often remote and inaccessible by vehicle. Often defined by camping equipment which can only be carried upon one’s person, the practice has a long tradition, practiced for many generations in our National Parks and long-distance trails.
Where can you wild camp in National Parks?
Wild camping is not permitted across the vast majority of the Parks in England and Wales without the permission of the landowner.
In England wild camping is legally permitted in Dartmoor National Park as a form of “open-air recreation” under the Dartmoor Commons Act since 1985. However within the space of a few years the right to wild camp on Dartmoor has been lost, appealed, won back and now challenged again in the Supreme Court. This challenge to the right for everyone to sleep under the stars and connect with nature has seen a huge groundswell of support for greater land access rights in England which we fully support.
In Wales the Welsh Government have promised a programme of access reform since 2019, however, there has been little progress to date and calls from the Outdoor Alliance Wales and others to implement access reform trials have not been taken forward. Across the UK the Outdoors for All coalition is calling for new legislation to open up more of our countryside.
Wild Camping protest outside the Supreme Court in London © Eben Muse
