I am very concerned to learn of plans to allow a ‘free-for-all’ wild camping in the South Downs National Park. Plans which I oppose.
Wild camping should be just that – reserved for the truly wild areas of the UK. I love our special countryside and want people to enjoy access but allowing anyone to set up camp anywhere they liked here in the South Downs would be a disaster for nature, be a trespassers charter and another headache for farmers and livestock owners.
It would also undermine the many existing South Downs campsites who work hard to provide regulated sites to keep our green spaces clean from human waste and our heathland safe from wildfires. The South Downs National Park authority has a reputation for being meticulous in applying its rules and regulations. You can’t have that approach to the law abiding and then the next minute support a wild camping free-for-all.
In contrast with the UK’s other designated National Parks which are located far from population centres, the South Downs is within easy reach of Greater London and the whole South East of England – one of Europe’s most densely populated regions - with 20 million people on its doorstep.
The plans were announced by shadow environment minister, Alex Sobel MP, who promised a future Labour-led government “would legislate so that people visiting national parks have the right to wild camp, as well as expanding public access to woodlands and waterways.”
Camping is a wonderful experience and as the founder of the Dark Skies All Party Parliamentary Group no one could be a bigger fan of getting away from it all with just the countryside and night sky for company. However, the South Downs already has many licensed camp sites with the UK’s leading campsite website, PitchUp.com, listing more than 50 legal sites within 20 miles of Petworth alone.
