yes there are and there's new laws that are being considered for access.
Nope, we're not involved in representing you at a political level, the moderators volunteer their time and energy on top of full time lives. We are not a political movement and we remain neutral in most instances.
We would all like to feel like we're acting within the law when we're camping, however at present wild camping in this form if not done with the land owners permission is trespass and if it's in some areas it's criminal law that you're breaking, such as Rail land. We cannot condone this hence our reticence in letting threads like this stand.
it's hard because the nature of the whole thing it obscure (other than the fact it is definitely trespass) it is sometimes accepted, in Scotland it’s not always trespass with the laws on access that they’ve introduced, sometimes there are local bylaws that allow or don’t, in some areas over a certain height is ok, most not. In Dartmoor The right to wild camping is actually enshrined in the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act, 1949 amendment Dartmoor Commons Act, 1985.
Article 6 states:
6 Camping
(1) No person shall knowingly use any vehicle, including a caravan or any structure other than a tent for the purpose of camping on the access land or land set out for the use or parking of vehicles except on any area which may be set apart and indicated by notice as a place where such camping is permitted.
(2) No person shall knowingly erect a tent on the access land for the purpose of camping:
(a) in any area listed in Schedule 2 to these byelaws;
(b) within 100 metres of any public road or in any enclosure.
(3) No person shall camp in a tent on the same site on the access land for more than two consecutive nights, except on any area which may be set apart and indicated by notice as a place where such camping is permitted.
So that implies that you can camp there if you’re within those rules.
The government said:
This Government appreciates the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland.
The Land Reform Act in Scotland allows for wild camping, but the land issues and the legislation in England are somewhat different. The introduction of wild camping in England would be a controversial issue, which would require both significant consultation and legislative change.
On open access land wild camping is prohibited under Schedule 2 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which lists all restricted activities. Therefore, new Regulations would be required to exclude wild camping as a restricted activity. Any change to the current rules on wild camping in National Parks and Ministry of Defence land would require new primary legislation.
The Government has no plans to allocate the necessary resources to consider proposals for such legislation at present, and is concentrating on following up the successful introduction of 750,000 hectares of open access land with new legislation on access to the coast in the Marine Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
At the moment there is no right to wild camp in England and Wales, if you want to camp in the wilds a trip to Scotland would be good
What I’ve often found to work is actually asking for permission but for some that’s not the point, some want to wild camp without permission feeling that they should not have to ask.
Anyway, I digress. Unless this Vid is was made in Scotland it’s promoting trespass and even though he might be taking very good care of the environment and leaving no trace many will follow this example, trespass and reinforce the argument not to permit wild camping because of the mess they make, a dilemma for us, well for me
So, no thread promoting wild camping, I’m happy for the laws to be discussed, the subject is ok as long as it stays non political and doesn’t deteriorate into a slagging match, which is what nearly all political threads do. If someone is working towards better access we will think about supporting it.
