Mass trespass planned on Dartmoor this weekend

Hundreds of campaigners are set to make a bold statement in what promises to be the largest mass trespass in a generation.

Set for Saturday, February 24, hundreds of campaigners will descend on Dartmoor's Vixen Tor to highlight the rules of access legislation in England and advocate for a universal right to roam on Dartmoor. 

The action aims to draw attention to the difficulty of ‘access islands’,  areas of land where the public has a legal right to roam but no legal right to access. 

These islands, numbering around 2,500 across England according to research by Right to Roam, are stranded within landscapes that lack public access rights, forcing people to trespass to reach them.

The root of this issue lies in England's partial right to roam legislation, established by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2000. 

While this law grants access to certain landscape types covering 8 per cent of England, fragmentation caused by post-World War II agricultural practices has created inaccessible pockets of land.

The trespass, scheduled to commence at 11am, will see participants crossing private land to reach Vixen Tor.

Campaigners have planned a creative procession, with performers and musicians symbolically sailing to the island on a large boat. 

Attendees are encouraged to devise imaginative ways to traverse the terrain.

Lewis Winks, representing Right to Roam, lamented the broken system, stating, "It's ridiculous that the public have to trespass to reach these fragments of land where they have a legal right to roam – all because of our piecemeal approach to access in this country."

Meanwhile, Ruth Webb of Stars are for Everyone has expressed enthusiasm for the event, noting the dedication of hundreds already committed to participating. 

“We have hundreds booked already to trespass on the 24th and we’ve been working hard to theme this action to highlight the absurdity of the situation. “