The freedom to go where you want whenever you want…

Question from:

Michael Bridger – Oxford, UK

“I would like to know what rights to roam there are within the UK and is there a good website to give information on the legalities of lighting camp fires etc? . . . Many thanks.”

Rights to roam…

The freedom to go where you want whenever you want…

Not quite but it is getting better…

If you want the latest information about this topic, I would highly recommend going to the Ramblers Association website…

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/freedom/

The ramblers association has been at the forefront of the movement to get more access to the wild places of the UK, and this site will give you the latest information…

An interesting point made on the website is that there are new ordinance survey maps with areas designated as freedom to roam, take a look at the page below…

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/freedom/righttoroam/latestdevelopments.html

Another useful website I found is a government site about open access land, it has an option to look at maps in your area your interested to find out if it has open access…

http://www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk/things_to_do/open_access

So my interpretation is that the right to roam still needs to be granted, for certain pieces of land, and can be taken away for reasons of safety or to protect wildlife…

The freedom to go on any piece of land you choose does not exist although it is only a criminal offence to trespass on certain places the next website has a great deal of good information about trespass and the law…

http://www.naturenet.net/law/common.html

Below is a quote from the above website:

“…it is within the power of the landowner to ask any person to leave, assuming that person does not have some other lawful reason to be there. The landowner does not have to give a reason. If the person does not go immediately, by the shortest practical route, then they are trespassing. Despite the well known sign ‘trespassers will be prosecuted’, trespass is not a criminal offence and trespassers cannot usually be prosecuted. They can, however, be sued. There is little chance of such a matter ever being so serious as to be worth suing over, and so

this rarely happens.”

I took another quote from the following website:

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section12/chapter_f.html

Section 61 CJPOA <Stones 2001 8-24900> enables a police officer to direct trespassers on land (who are there with the common purpose of residing there for any period) to leave the land where the occupier has taken steps to ask them to do so, and either

* they have damaged the land; or
* they have used threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour to the occupier, her or his family, employees or agents; or
* between them they have 6 or more vehicles on the land.

Failure to obey a direction to leave or returning to the land as a trespasser within 3 months is an offence.

So it seems the right to roam has been extended, and trespass only becomes a criminal offence if you take something without a landowners permission

Another quote from the following website:

http://www.naturenet.net/law/common.html

“In many cases people take things from the countryside, such as stones, wood, earth, and so on. They have all committed theft if this is not authorised by the landowner.

On the subject of lighting fire and right to roam guide on the ramblers association site has this to say:

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/freedom/righttoroam/guide.pdf

“The new right of access is restricted in several ways.For instance,it does not allow walkers to drop litter,light fires,cause damage to plant or animal life and bathe in non-tidal water.It does not allow camping and organised games.The Act does not distinguish between access during the day and at night, although local restrictions could affect access at night.Walkers are responsible for their own safety at all times.Anyone breaking a restriction will be treated as a trespasser and barred from entering the land for the next 72 hours.The Act does not confer additional rights for cyclists or horse-riders but existing rights are not affected.”

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 can be accessed

at:

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000037_en_1

I would advise you do your own research about the places you wish to explore to see if open access has been granted there, and also become familiar with the trespass law, so you know where you stand if you do find yourself on private land, which can easily happen if your not an expert map reader…

It seems that only theft,violence, abusive or insulting behaviour would get you in trouble, if asked to leave by the landowner…

I have sucessful deveoped relationships with landowners who were more than happy to have me and a group on their land, mostly because they liked me, but also they could use group visits to their land as part of satisfying part of grants they had for things like planting trees…

I have written to wildlife trusts and got permmision to run classes on thier land, providing I followed their rules…

And I have spoken to the forestry comission’s main office who were more than happy to grant me access to their land fro the purpose of teching if no one else was using it…

There are many ways to get use of private land, even without right to roam extending everywhere…

My hope is you have some usefull resources here

please ask more questions if you have them…

Walk in Awareness