Campaigners Protest Bid To Ban Wild Camping on Dartmoor

Alexander Darwall, a hedge fund manager who owns the 4,000 acre Blachford Estate on southern Dartmoor — which offers pheasant shooting, deerstalking and holiday rentals — is seeking to remove that right. Taking the matter to court, he is challenging whether the National Park has the authority to allow this on private land. The public’s right to wild camp on sections of the moor has been permitted since 1985.

Papers lodged by the Darwalls’ lawyers earlier this year claim the right of access granted by the Dartmoor Commons Act ‘does not include a right of wild camping’. He said he is not seeking to end wild camping but that the ‘need for landowner permission to wild camp is a vital safeguard’.

National Parks exist to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of their special qualities. Wild camping is a form of outdoor recreation which promotes that

Campaigners however are protesting the bid. At the weekend, rallies organised by the campaign group Right To Roam, saw between 300-400 people gathered in Princetown and outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday (December 12) ahead of the hearing.

‘It was a very emotional day, so many wonderful people came out to show their support of the right hike and Wildcamp,’ said Becca Trebilcock, one of the main organisers of the event.