Supreme Court hears challenge to right to wild camp on Dartmoor

Alexander and Diana Darwall are challenging a Court of Appeal ruling which said members of the public have the right to wild camp in the national park in Devon.

The couple keep cattle on Stall Moor, which forms part of their more than 3,450-acre estate in the southern part of Dartmoor, and claim that some campers cause problems to livestock and the environment.

Their appeal to the UK’s highest court is opposed by the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA), which previously said it would seek “to defend the public’s right to access the national park for open-air recreation” while continuing work to “protect Dartmoor’s unique characteristics”.

Dartmoor National Park, designated in 1951, covers a 368-square mile area that features “commons” – areas of unenclosed privately owned moorland where locals can put livestock.

The Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 says “the public shall have the right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of
open-air recreation”.

In written submissions, Timothy Morshead KC, for Mr and Mrs Darwall, said the act only gives the public access on foot and horseback “which naturally means walking and riding”.

He continued: “The words ‘open-air recreation’ are used in a different part of the sentence and with a different grammatical function: not describing what public had a right to do on Dartmoor but, rather, describing the purpose for which the public might exercise its right to walk and ride on Dartmoor.”

However, barristers for the DNPA said the phrase “on foot” means “the access to the commons should be pedestrian and not vehicular”.

Richard Honey KC said in written submissions: “It does not mean that persons must be standing up at all times… A construction which would prevent someone exercising the (access) right from sitting, kneeling or lying down would be absurd.”

In written submissions, the landowners’ lawyers said “nobody and certainly” neither of the landowners is “asserting that all camping must stop on Dartmoor”.

Mr Morshead continued that the Darwalls are “not motivated by a desire to stop camping on Dartmoor”, but “concerns arise from their responsibilities as stewards of the land in their ownership and over which they have commoners’ rights: concerns about the damage that wild camping can cause and, in particular, about the significant risk of fire associated with it”.

However, the DNPA called the suggestion that erecting a tent damages land and vegetation “absurd”.

In written submissions, Mr Honey said: “The suggestion that merely erecting a tent for backpack or wild camping damages the land and vegetation is absurd.

“Erecting a tent for backpack or wild camping for a night or two would do no such damage.”

In January 2023, the High Court ruled that law did not give people the right to pitch tents overnight on the Dartmoor Commons without landowners’ permission.

But in July that year, the Court of Appeal overturned this decision, finding the law “confers on members of the public the right to rest or sleep on the Dartmoor Commons, whether by day or night and whether in a tent or otherwise” as long as byelaws are followed.

Campaigners from Right to Roam and The Stars are for Everyone played music and danced while some held banners outside the court during the hearing.

Caroline Voaden, MP for South Devon, said access to nature is a “fundamental necessity for all of us”.

She said: “In a country where poor mental health has become one of the crises of our times, it is more vital than ever that people can have access to this land. We absolutely must protect this right – and I hope extend it to other wild open spaces and national parks across the country so more people can experience the thrill of wild camping.

“The land belongs to all of us. The stars are for everyone. It’s a tragedy that this must be tested, yet again, in the courtroom.”

The hearing before Lords Reed, Sales and Stephens, as well as Lady Rose and Lady Simler, concluded on Tuesday, with a judgment expected in writing at a later date.