Thank you for taking the time to write to me on Dartmoor and the right to roam issue.
I should be clear that I am very much in favour of the right to roam and to wild camp on Dartmoor National Park. While some have suggested that legislation is the best course of action, it is my opinion that a long term, free permissive agreement is needed between landowners, stakeholders and Dartmoor National Park Authority.
I hold this view because not only will legislation be costly and slow, but it also may not deliver what is actually wanted. I hope that all the relevant parties will recognise that it is in their interest to come to a new position on this matter and provide the long term solution through a consensual agreement. If they get this right then it could well unlock even greater amounts of land for people to be able to wild camp upon, including the 3,500 acres owned by Dartmoor National Park Authority where the public’s ability to wild camp is restricted.
On the wider context of the Right to Roam Bill, I am not supportive. Instead, I would prefer to see the 144,000 miles of existing public footpaths maintained, supported and even enhanced so that we can help everyone take full advantage of the extensive routes that are available. It is also clear that we must be proactive in protecting the 10,000 odd-miles that are in jeopardy of being lost by 2026. Some of the most successful conservation schemes across the UK are being conducted upon private land and undertaken through self-funding; the proposal to allow people to walk wherever they like whenever they like, would decimate many of these projects and set back good they are doing.
Rather than taking away people’s property rights, which I believe are a core tenant of every good democracy, I think we can and should do more to introduce people to our countryside through using our national parks, our foot paths and our incredible South West Coast Path. Together, these offer an extensive amount of land for people to take advantage of while also protecting nature-based recovery projects and biodiversity improvement schemes.