Carry on camping! Members of the public CAN go wild camping in Dartmoor National Park, appeal judges rule after Devon landowners tried to stop people pitching tents
- A High Court judge had ruled people could not pitch their tents there overnight
- Read: Couple launch legal bid to stop campers on the Dartmoor National Park
Members of the public can go wild camping in Dartmoor National Park, appeal judges have ruled – after Devon landowners tried to stop people pitching tents.
A High Court judge ruled in January that a nearly 40-year-old piece of legislation did not give people the right to pitch tents overnight on Dartmoor Commons without landowners’ permission.
Alexander and Diana Darwall brought the successful legal challenge against the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), claiming some campers cause problems to livestock and the environment.
The DNPA asked appeal judges to overturn Sir Julian Flaux’s decision earlier this month, arguing he had the wrong interpretation of a 1985 law over rights of access to Dartmoor Commons.
In a ruling on Monday, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Underhill and Lord Justice Newey granted the appeal, finding 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’ as long as byelaws are followed.
Members of the public can go wild camping in Dartmoor National Park, appeal judges have ruled – after Devon landowners tried to stop people pitching tents
Dartmoor National Park, designated in 1951, covers a 368-square mile area in Devon
Sir Geoffrey said the ‘critical question’ was whether wild camping could be considered a form of ‘open-air recreation’, finding it was.
‘The fact that a tent is closed rather than open cannot convert the wild camping from being an open-air recreation into not being one,’ he said.
‘In my judgment, that walker is still resting by sleeping and undertaking an essential part of the recreation.’
Lord Justice Underhill, who agreed with Sir Geoffrey, added the byelaws ‘provide a workable structure whereby a proper balance can be preserved between the rights of those accessing the commons and the rights of the owners of the land and others’.
He added: ‘Many people take pleasure in the experience of sleeping in a tent in open country, typically, though not invariably, as part of a wider experience of walking across country, and perhaps engaging in other open-air recreations such as birdwatching, during the day.
A High Court judge ruled in January that a nearly 40-year-old piece of legislation did not give people the right to pitch tents overnight on Dartmoor Commons without landowners’ permission
‘It is a perfectly natural use of language to describe that as a recreation, and also as occurring in the open air notwithstanding that while the camper is actually in the tent the outside air will be to some extent excluded.’
Sir Julian had previously found that the meaning of the legislation was ‘clear and unambiguous’ in that it conferred a ‘right to roam’ which did not include ‘a right to wild camp without permission’.
READ MORE: Landowners demand a veto on YOUR right to camp where you like: Devon farming couple launch legal bid to stop campers pitching their tents on the Dartmoor National Park… except with THEIR approval
His judgment was labelled a ‘huge step backward’ by campaigners who claimed there was a ‘long-established precedent’ of wild camping in the national park in Devon.
The Court of Appeal’s decision has been welcomed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority.
‘We are pleased it was a unanimous verdict from the three judges who heard the case.’
Dartmoor National Park Authority’s chief executive Kevin Bishop described the appeal ruling as ‘a re-affirmation of the right to backpack camp on Dartmoor and secures that right for today and future generations’.
‘Our sincere hope is that this judgment means we can now move forward, in partnership, with a focus on making sure Dartmoor remains a special place for all to enjoy.’
Dartmoor National Park, designated in 1951, covers a 368-square mile area that features ‘commons’ – areas of unenclosed privately owned moorland where locals can put livestock.
The DNPA previously said backpack campers can access nearly 52,000 acres of common land across the national park and can stay overnight under a new ‘permissive system’ as long as they follow a code of conduct.
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