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Wildcamping, the rights and the wrongs and perhaps whats to come Aug 2015
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Interesting article. Regarding law in England and Wales I thought I’d add a couple of points. Trespass was never a criminal offence and complaint could only be made via the landlord through the civil courts. In 1994 a new act did make trespass a criminal offence in certain circumstances which are really aimed at squatters, hunt saboteurs and illegal raves so not likely to be relevant to wild camping. Therefore if you are on land belonging to someone else without lawful reason, whether they have expressly told you to stay away or not, you are trespassing. It makes no difference whether you plan to or actually cause damage, leave waste or anything else. Being there is enough. In practice therefore they cannot have you arrested but could choose to make a civil claim against you which might result in fines or similar. This takes effort and involves cost so unless you are turning up regularly they are unlikely to take such action might simply ask you to leave. Historically people have generally wild camped in remote places and unless they are told to move on just relax under the stars, as the article states this means leaving no damage or waste behind of any kind and I think most landowners in very rural areas tend to turn a blind eye if you are behaving (if they notice you) but strictly, if you are there, you are trespassing.
If everybody had a little respect for our surroundings and not just the minority then the countryside would be free for all to enjoy.
My thoughts dont really matter but if we had the same laws as Scotland it would be a greater experience.
I really do think that the majority do have respect but that a small mindless minority spoil it for the majority. However there is undoubtedly an issue being created by increasing demand to use our wild spaces. Having the same laws as Scotland is just unlikely ever to happen. 1. Scotland has an entirely different legal system to the English one which is based on precedent ( as far as I am aware ) 2. Scotland in the only country in Europe never to have had a land reform in terms of large chunks being owned by individuals. 3 If Scotland had the same density of population as England the hills would be being built upon. It is arguable that if Scotland had gone through a land reform process then the large estates which have in some way created the open and unpopulated landscape we love to visit would exist and that access would be so easy. However that is speculation and a deeply debated topic which is outside of the remit of the wild camping issue.