Campaigners call for right to roam on edges of private farmland in England

23 comments

1. As long as I get the right to work around the edge of their gardens

2. I’m usually one to give farmers a hard time but I have sympathy for them here. Too many people have a fucked-up sense of entitlement when it comes to private property that is basically “what’s mine is mine but what’s yours is also mine”. Supermarket car parks are the perfect example, they aren’t public land, they’re privately owned yet I’ve witnessed people park, pick-up their kids from football or do whatever and then drive off without ever using the store.

   What’ll happen is that people won’t stick to a narrow path at the side of the field, people will let their dogs roam off the lead, people will decide it’s their right to pick brambles. The farmer will then also be responsible for the health and safety of those on the land, dog walker gets injured by cattle spooked by the dog and the farmer can end-up in court.

   If the Countryside Code was made law and enforceable through fines then it might be a starting point for discussions.

3. Not a chance would I let people onto my property with such a sense of entitlement.

4. When did we become such a nation of forelock tuggers?

   The right to roam was one of the great legislative achievements of the early 20th century, this is calm and reasonable expansion of that.

5. Right to roam works in Scotland and many other countries. The people who are going to walk across the middle of your field or leave a bonfire in your woods will do that anyway, right to roam or not.

6. How have the existing right to roam areas been policed? Effectively? Not at all? Do additional penalties apply if you get caught fly tipping or exercising your ATV?

   If there isn’t an issue currently it should be possible to reach an accommodation which permits access where feasible yet affords farmers some protection from wayward roamers and entitled dog owners.

7. We used to allow a few people in the village who asked to walk their dogs in our fields, used to be the usual few and get a little something like a bottle of whiskey, it ended up being double figures of people we didn’t even know, people doing work for us putting their hands in excrement when cleaning out machinery (so dread to think how much went into the actual fodder for the livestock) and sheep worrying (I’ve got photos of where there were lambs and sheep with the effects of a dog on them) yeah now nobody is allowed to walk their dogs on our land as people have shown they are untrustworthy and disrespectful.

8. We have right to roam here in Norway. There’s very rarely any issues. People know not to walk across fields.

9. I’d rather the government actually focus firstly on enforcing the law with respect to existing footpaths. Too many knobhead landowners out there think it’s an optional extra to allow access.

10. The amount of publicly accessible land is shrinking year by year. Public rights of way are blocked off and erased. It’s about time we put a stop to that! Can you imagine not even being allowed to walk in, through and between the lands in which you live? Of course don’t walk through crop fields or somebody’s backyard, but dear lord let the people roam the country!

    Even worse, there’s many pockets of public access land with no right of way leading to it, essentially locking it away from anybody ever entering without epxlicit permission from nearby landowners.

    For the adventureous among you and only if I remember this rightly, randomly trespassing on an agricultural path or something will at most get you a fine. Respect the land, but if you are so inclined, take a walk.

11. This would benefit an extreme minority of people that go rambling, for the disadvantage of the extreme minority that own farms.

    Instead of opening a field day, when walkers stop being responsible for damaging crops, just leave the law as it is. You can tresspass, and you will likely never get sued for it, unless you cause substantial damage.

12. Awful idea.

    I doubt anyone who’s worked on a farm or owned horses/livestock would support this idea.

    If I work hard to buy my own land, I should be able to keep it for my own purposes – not have to give access to (and open myself up to liability from) anyone who fancies it because they chose to live somewhere with poor walking routes and don’t want to drive to a park.

    Or maybe all the tax we pay could be used to buy land and create more parks. Instead of private citizens being expected to do the job for the council and take all the risk, all the liability and endure all the headaches.

13. I just walk wherever I want to. Trespassing isn’t a crime and if you’re sensible nobody cares anyway 

14. Id personally prefer to just add more rights of way. There’s loads of wonderful natural scenery one can already access through perfectly legal means, and arable land is simply more vulnerable to damage from ramblers than pasture

15. More people that couldn’t be arsed to save up for their own land, wanting a go on everyone else’s for free.

    People in towns get designated parking, and parking on their drives, and they still take advantage and get 3/ 4 cars for 2 allotted spaces, they then use the very same attitude to trespass/ let their dog off the lead chasing livestock/ leaving gates open/ leaving rubbish.

    Thankfully as farmers give up, the price is getting better, we used to have people act entitled on a piece of land we had, now it’s a big Warehouse!

16. More info on this topic:
    https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/about

17. Behold, the sort of policy conceived by people who visit the countryside rather than live in it.

    Let’s be very frank here, people will walk their dogs through sheep pastures, people will throw their crap in the hedges, people will trod on the crops and people will steal stuff from the fruit trees.

    Don’t assume the best of people, especially in Modern Britain, the Pandemic showed that people will not respect the environment if they believe they are entitled to it.

    It is private property, used to grow our food, not a big park.

    this is just not going to work, it will degrade the landscape and the farms while providing little benefit besides what? a slightly more convenient walk for some tourist who will visit the area once and then never return?

18. Hey, just making sure our rights of way are actually maintained and not purposely left to rot by landowners would be a start.

19. This is a great idea but would need to come with protections about field boundaries or else the farmers would just rip out all the hedges and claim you weren’t on the “edge” any more.

20. There are so many rights-of-way already. What’s wrong with them? Apart from wanting to walk in somebody else’s field because it’s not strewn with litter or turned into a muddy swamp (yet).

    I’m not a fan of farmers’ automatic right to subsidies and tax exemptions &c but anyone who really cared about enjoying the outdoors, rather than blundering through a field, should really consider helping with one of the many, existing, neglected rights-of-way.

    So many projects you could help with; improve drainage, fix a stile, cut back some himalayan balsam, build some steps – but maybe asserting a claim to somebody else’s land is more fun?

21. As always, it’s hailed as a great idea by those who don’t actually own any land. In reality, if you give people an inch, they’ll take a mile.

22. Would be nice if it was actually legal to go out and touch grass

23. It’s so crazy reading about this stuff as an american. I don’t mean it in a bad way. I don’t care if someone walks through my yard as long as they keep it moving. Also I know there I’ll be the usual “out m8 skill shootings” and shit jokes but no, we don’t usually gun people down for existing on our property if it’s legit land lol. Right to roam has always intrigued me and the difference in mindsets because we literally came from the UK and the rest of Europe but something like that is unheard of here. I think this place was way more wild and we(aka you) were busy fighting the indigenous people of this land so we take it super seriously to this day? I don’t know it’s just strange the difference between us to me. I’m sure there will be all the usual jokes and “blah blah america bad” but I don’t care about that so don’t bother.

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