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Posted on: Monday, August 25, 2008 at 2:14 pm
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Be A Responsible Wild Camper
August
25th
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For an interesting article on wild camping up in Scotland pop on over to Cameron McNeish’s blog and read his posting ”Wild Camping In Scotland“. Which discusses being a responsible wild camper, and the current attempts to educate the masses as to what those responsibilities are.
“The recent petition on legalising wild camping in England and Wales has helped focus attention on the definition of wild camping, even in Scotland where its legal status was formulated under the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003.“
Posted on: Monday, August 25, 2008 at 2:14 pm Bloggersphere, News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I did chat with a Snowdonia national park ranger last March (2007) and he was saying that he/they have powers to confiscate kit (tent/sleeping bags/stoves) from people they find wild camping. This is a bit disconcerting. However, he also said they only go that far if people are being irresponsible and implied that they turn a blind eye to those trying to ‘leave no trace’.
Is this true ? Can they take peoples belongings and what is the process
September 17th, 2008 at 11:23 amI recently emailed Aneurin Phillips, chief exec of Snowdonia National Park, on exactly the same topic and got this reply from Barbara Jones, head of the warden and access service, on his behalf:
· The authority is not a significant landowner: only 0.43% of the land area is in NPA ownership, and this is not land suitable for wild camping. The authority is not therefore in a position to directly permit wild camping.
· Approximately 71% of the land area is in private ownership. The NPA advises enquirers that they must have landowners’ consent. This is the advice given on our website and on our advisory leaflet “Enjoy your Visit”.
· 10.4% of the land area in the SnowdoniaNational Park is in National Trust ownership. Official NT policy is that true wild camping – above the mountain wall, or 450’ contour, single tent, for one night – is acceptable, provided that Mountaineering Council of Scotland Good Practice Guidance is followed. In practice, we are aware that large/organised groups can be a problem, and advise people who enquire that they should speak to the NT about their intentions.
· It is worth noting that there is a difference between true wild camping – which should leave no trace and by definition therefore pose no problem - and organised groups visiting popular sites, which can and does result in litter, pollution and loss of amenity and sense of place. This is a problem in some very popular “honey pot” areas, particularly in the north of the Park.
No mention of confiscating kit or of whether the powers reside with wardens to do that. National Park rangers in the UK don’t have the same police-like authority that their counterparts in the US are given, far as I know. Thankfully they don;’t carry guns either!
I have emailed other National Parks on the same subject and most replies are along roughly the same lines.
In some areas the Commons Act apparently allows some wild camping though Leave No Trace practices should be followed at all times.
One National Park ranger told me that on very rare occasions landowners/farmers have asked rangers to help them move on unwelcome campers but this was usually in relation to roadside campers of the kind that no-one really wants littering the fields and verges.
I’ll email Barbara again and alert her to your comment about confiscation of gear and see if she might even post here.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:09 amRichard
Are you still around?
Can you let me have the location where you met this warden and, if you have it, his/her name? Barbara at the park has offered to look into this further.
Might be best of you emailed me the details rather than post them here.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:45 amjohn (at) outdoorsmanning (dot) com
Thank you for this post, the article you linked to was very interesting. It is a shame that it’s the minority of visitors to the wild that ruin it for the rest of us by not knowing how to behave and what the correct procedures are when they get there.
April 24th, 2009 at 5:59 am[…] Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper Posted by root 50 minutes ago (https://legalisewildcamping.com) Aug 25 2008 i 39 ll email barbara again and alert her to your comment about confiscation of gear and see legalise wild camping is powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper […]
May 31st, 2009 at 4:11 am[…] Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper Posted by root 8 hours ago (https://legalisewildcamping.com) Aug 25 2008 i 39 ll email barbara again and alert her to your comment about confiscation of gear and see legalise wild camping is powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper […]
May 31st, 2009 at 7:57 am[…] Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper Posted by root 4 minutes ago (https://legalisewildcamping.com) Aug 25 2008 i 39 ll email barbara again and alert her to your comment about confiscation of gear and see legalise wild camping is powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | Legalise Wild Camping Blog Archive Be A Responsible Wild Camper […]
May 31st, 2009 at 10:21 pm