Wild camping to be allowed in UK national park after appeal

Wild camping to be allowed in UK national park after appeal
by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) July 31, 2023

Camping overnight will be allowed again in a national park in southwest England after an appeal on Monday overturned a High Court ruling which had banned the long-standing tradition.

A High Court judge ruled earlier this year that the public did not have the right to pitch tents overnight in Dartmoor National Park in Devon, going against a long-running interpretation of a 1985 law as allowing wild camping.

A legal challenge was brought against the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) by two landowners who alleged that some campers were disrupting the livestock and environment.

The High Court ruling had found that the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act did not allow for wild camping without the landowners' permission.

While the Dartmoor Commons Act states the public have the "right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation", the High Court judge concluded that this did not include a "right to wild camp without permission".

However, the appeal ruling found that the law "confers on members of the public the right to rest or sleep on the Dartmoor Commons, whether by day or night and whether in a tent or otherwise".

The DNPA and Open Spaces Society argued in their appeal earlier this month that camping was a form of "open-air recreation".

In the UK, commons are privately-owned, unenclosed areas of land with the right to public access. Until the High Court ruling in January, Dartmoor Commons was the only area in England which allowed for overnight camping without permission from landowners.

Campaigners have argued for a long-established tradition of setting up camp in the moorland and the necessity of camping for other activities like hiking, bird-watching and stargazing.

"This is a huge victory for all who've campaigned to overturn the High Court's clearly erroneous ruling in January", Robert Macfarlane, a British writer who campaigned for the appeal, told AFP.

"It restores the customary right to wild camping on Dartmoor, enjoyed by young and old for more than half a century; it recognises that sleeping under the stars is -- of course -- a form of "open-air recreation"; and it is another landmark in the growing campaign for a free, fair, responsible and vastly extended access to land and nature."