Dartmoor wild camping campaigners travel to London for key court case

Dartmoor wild camping campaigners travel to London for key court case

Campaigners from The Stars are for Everyone travelled to London late last month for the high court appeal hearing into the decision to remove the right to backpack camp on Dartmoor without permission.

The appeal is being brought by Dartmoor National Park Authority with support from the Open Spaces Society. It follows the controversial court decision in January this year that there was no right to camp on Dartmoor in a case brought by landowner and hedge fund manager Alexander Darwall.

Public reaction to the decision brought over 3,000 people to a demonstration on Dartmoor - the biggest such right to roam demonstration in a generation.

Fern Leigh Albert, a photographer based on Dartmoor, attended both rallies. She has been documenting the wild camping campaign since December and says: ''Whatever the outcome of the appeal, this campaign has brought together a diverse community who are passionate about wild camping and greater access to land.''

The campaigners are hoping that the decision will be overturned. Lewis Winks, speaking for The Stars are for Everyone, said: “We believe that everyone should have the right to responsibly enjoy Dartmoor without having to seek permission, and this is in the spirit of the original reason our National Parks were established. The widespread public support for this was demonstrated earlier this year by the thousands that took to the moor in the biggest right to roam protest in a generation.

“We (travelled to) the High Court in support of the appeal against the decision earlier this year that removed the right to camp and invite people to join us in solidarity with all those that want to freely spend a night under the stars.”

Joining the campaigners outside the court was Caroline Lucas MP, Mary-Ann Ochota and Guy Shrubsole.

Although a decision has yet to be made, lawyers for the Dartmoor National Park Authority, who have appealed the original decision that ‘recreation’ does not include camping, argued that the ruling was "wrong" and "failed… to appreciate that camping is an open-air recreation".

Timothy Straker KC, for the DNPA, said the argument was basically down to "rival" interpretations of the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act, which stated that "the public shall have a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation". He argued that open-air recreation "undoubtedly includes camping" and "a vast array of other activities which one can't begin to list because it's endless".

He contined: “There are public health advantages given by open-air recreation which stands to be encouraged, not discouraged.”

The Open Spaces Society (OSS), a conservation charity which is supporting DNPA's appeal, stated that judge Sir Julian Flaux's conclusions did not consider the "wider public interest".

Richard Honey KC, for the OSS, made the point that camping was an essential component for those who walk for long distances across the moors, and other recreational activities such as birdwatching, fishing and rock-climbing could all be affected by the High Court ruling.

Mr Morshead, arguing for the ruling, said in a written statement that camping “is not on any possible view a form of ‘open-air recreation’ in any context. The whole point of erecting a tent is to escape from the ‘open’ air.”

He said wild camping could not be classed as recreation or enjoyment because “sleeping overnight on the commons is not recreation, open-air or otherwise, because you are just asleep.

"In short, there is no basis in historical precedent for any member of the public to expect that a grant of public access to land will include a right to erect a tent on it."

Timothy Straker counter-argued that: “A recreation can embrace sleep – for instance the recreation of taking 16 hours on Dartmoor to include sleeping overnight so one can observe the sunset in the evening or sunrise in the morning. It is not a sensible proposition to suggest that sleeping takes one outside the scope of recreation.”

There are many holding their breath to hear the outcome of the appeal, which is expected to be decided in a few weeks’ time.