Britain’s Supreme Court has handed wild campers and other outdoor venturers a victory over a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager who tried to keep them off his land.
The ruling, the final step in the two-year-old case, hinged on the meaning of “open-air recreation,” a right guaranteed to all under the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act. Alexander Darwall, the landowner, claimed that the term only covered walking and horse-back riding, and attempted to ban camping on his land.
Experts including the Open Spaces Society warned the court that agreeing with Darwall’s interpretation of the law would have wide implications for how people enjoyed Dartmoor, potentially prohibiting activities including bathing, sketching, rock climbing, bird watching and fishing. Lawyers for Darwall told the court that they believe even picnicking did not count and was trespass.
The court’s ruling said that the only requirement is that people enter on foot or horseback, and that once there they could stop to pursue any kind of “open-air recreation” that fell fairly within the meaning of that phrase, which would include having a picnic, camping and other activities such as rock climbing.
The landowner is expected to be assessed the costs of the case for the Dartmoor National Park, which has spent millions in fighting the case.
