In a landmark case pitting backpacking campers and the Dartmoor National Park Authority against a wealthy landowner and hedge fund manager, an appeals court has ruled that, under the right circumstances, sleeping is a form of outdoor recreation.
The landowner, Alexander Darwall, who makes money on his land through pheasant shoots, deerstalking and holiday rentals, had previously won a high court decision that the 1985 Dartmoor Commons Act, which confirmed ancient and new rights for people to enter open areas on Dartmoor for recreation and hiking, applied only to hiking, horse-riding and picnicking, and that the owners could bar hikers from stopping to nap or sleep overnight.
The decision was appealed by the Park Authority and open-space groups, who pointed out that aside from the camping issue, the ruling could ban such other activities as birdwatching, landscape painting or stargazing, and failed to take into account the historical understanding of a ‘right to roam.’
The appeals panel was very clear in its decision, with one justice writing for the court “In my judgment, on its true construction, section 10 (1) of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 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.”
He added that a walker who lay down to rest without a tent would be there for open-air recreation, and that if he fell asleep it did not change that, nor would it change if he lay on a plastic sheet or sleeping bag, nor if he set up a tent.
DNPA and groups including the Open Spaces Society say they are pleased with the unanimous ruling, and hope to see the right extended to other areas.
