That’s not quite correct. The judgement was to establish what would constitute ‘recreation’ as defined within access legislation because wild camping or spending the night on the moor wasn’t expressly included within it. It was however accepted as such a recreation on Dartmoor and has been accepted as such long before the land was purchased.
Recreation on Dartmoor as expressly permitted allows walking and horse riding and not much else within that narrow scope (see the list below taken form .gov site). This judgement might not just apply to wild camping because it could then be used to prevent photographers spending a long time on the moor without the express permission of the landowner - such as arriving before dawn or staying after sunset without permission because that’s not recreation either. The crow act only accepts a very narrow range of activities.
I don’t see any ‘bushcraft’ type activities on that list. So no wildlife tracking and trailing, don’t you dare stop and put a tarp up for the afternoon and practice you cooking skills with your stove.
Fancy a dog walk? Short lead between March and July across Stall Moor and all times around ‘livestock’ - game birds are defined as livestock along with the all year round sheep and cattle on the moor.
“There’s a general rule that visitors using their open access rights must keep dogs on a short lead of no more than 2 metres between 1 March and 31 July each year (except in the coastal margin) and at all times near livestock.”
Note it says ‘general rule’ - some estates and landowners will see that as the rule.
I say be careful what you wish for because when there are more laws and restrictions they start to affect everyone.
As
@Suffolkrafter says - they can start with one activity and then down a list until suddenly all you can do is the four things below as defined within the act and nothing else.
What people can do on your land
People can normally access your open access land on foot. They can:
- walk
- sightsee
- bird-watch
- climb
- run
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/open-ac...ponsibilities#what-people-can-do-on-your-land