Petition to legalise wild camping

From the PM's office in response to the petition to legalise wildcamping in England & Wales

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.

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I am a cynical old bastard & am convinced that the only bloody petitions they take notice of are those that accord with what they have planned anyway. I don't know why they bother with the charade. 

From the PM's office in response to the petition to legalise wildcamping in England & Wales

"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."

Yes, ok. What about Wales?

i think i prefer the coast access to wild camping. the former is diifcult to get away with, the latter is easy.

quite right kate, what about wales?

Yes, ok. What about Wales?

I think it would be mighty difficult to wild camp on whales

Hi everybody

As a Scottish wild camper, the new legislation here is excellent, and applauded internationally I think, although it hasn't always totally filtered through to ALL landowners yet...  But at least we have the backing of the law.

However, we do have an increasing problem with roadside & low ground campers (which the legislation was never meant to cover anyway) and who, unlike their high ground cousins, absolutely do NOT subscribe to the 'leave no trace' ethic...litter and human waste in particular.

I 'm not sure what the answer is as it's impossible to police.  I do suspect however, that it will endanger it ever becoming legislation in England and Wales (even if that is a distant prospect.) It's all too easy for those who are against 'wild' camping to find some very bad examples indeed - thus effectively ruining it for the rest of us!

Ive just had my email,its an efin scandal its just typical of that free loading government il bet if george w liked wild camping every street corner would have a tent on it. Im afraid its not a vote winner so there not intrested.But Dont worry chaps the way things are going they wont have any choice cos every  bugger is going to have ther homes reposessed . Up the revoloution   

I've been out all day on Loadpot Hill above Ullswater, and returned home to find my email, and promptly deleted it.

I fully intend to do what I've always done... camp wherever I want... whenever I want. I can accept the argument that it's almost impossible to police wild camping, but I can turn that argument completely on its head and hope the state can accept the argument that there's nothing they can do to stop me either! First you have to be caught, and a good wild camper never gets caught! 

doog pony wrote (see)

Hi everybody

As a Scottish wild camper, the new legislation here is excellent, and applauded internationally I think, although it hasn't always totally filtered through to ALL landowners yet...  But at least we have the backing of the law.

However, we do have an increasing problem with roadside & low ground campers (which the legislation was never meant to cover anyway) and who, unlike their high ground cousins, absolutely do NOT subscribe to the 'leave no trace' ethic...litter and human waste in particular.

I don't know where you're getting your info from. Since when was it only meant to cover high ground?

I can't say i've noticed much difference in wild camping since the law came into force. People camped where they wanted to before the act. The Act just made legal what was happening anyway.

i'm with paddy.

if the police cant turn up to speak to my daughter on the same evening that some dirty scroat tried to get her into his car then i cant see them walking up a hill to make a wildcamper move on.if the land owner caught and asked me to move then i would.

As a Scottish wild camper I've been surprised by the ambivalence in the southern outdoors community to this extension of these rights but I guess if Fisherfield was plonked within 100km of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee (let alone Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool) I'd be more suspicious of mass access.

Right chaps ive just bin on the 10 downing st site and ive started another petition im just waiting for approval, but if your intrested its in my name jamie hickson and the short word is campingwild and the its long name is legalise wild camping in england and wales .Im hoping they will get sick off hearing about it and give in,it works for my kids

Mmmmm.... I would dearly love for the whole of the British and Irish Isles (in fact the whole world) to make wild-camping legal.

However, as already mentioned, on a recent trip to Skye I saw many sites around layby's next to lochs that were jammed with "wild" campers. Most layby's were full and people were putting up huge family sized tents in the farmers field opposite during lambing season. Not on Skye may I add, but on the journey up through the popular west highlands.

Some layby's (farmers fields) looked like gypsy camps, litter, and general sh*t everywhere.

I would love to live in a country where people took responsibility for their own actions, cleaned up after themselves, loved their cramped natural world, appreciated the freedom that wild-camping involves and became genetically evolved from being inbred, stupid f*cking luddites.... Britain is not that place!

Until we have a cultural (r)evolution, I say keep laws as they are. It binds and makes me sad saying it. The stupid idiots that can't be bothered to walk up a mountain and instead make camp 10 metres from a layby, start fires and leave loads mess, should be fined (coshed to a bloody pulp if it were P.C).

Respectable wild-campers will carry on, in secret, in touch with nature, oblivious to those in Whitehall and the louts in the layby!

Rocky wrote (se

Respectable wild-campers will carry on, in secret, in touch with nature, oblivious to those in Whitehall and the louts in the layby!

I was led to believe and no doubt someone will correct me on this one.

That all the land in UK belongs to the crown and was only "given" to certain landlords (to maintain) who helped whoever was on the throne at the time but still remained the "property" of the crown.

So come on Liz when are you coming up to the lakes wildcamping

I will even lend you a tent