FROM PROTECT THE WILD — ROYAL PRIVILEGE VERSUS RIGHT TO ROAM

Can't see this message? View in browser   The New-Old Power in the Countryside For centuries, England has been the preserve of the few. Aristocratic estates, the manors of the gentry, royal parks: all form a web of privilege and inheritance which too often shape our landscapes, as well as who gets to belong in them. We were reminded of this last week, following Prince William and Princess Kate’s move to Forest Lodge in Windsor Great Park, resulting in hundreds of acres of formerly accessible woodland being closed to the public. A ‘serious organised crime’ designation is due to come into force, enabling the immediate arrest of all found trespassing. Kate has spoken recently of the “spiritual and very intense emotional reconnection” that comes from experiencing nature. But is that consistent with removing even more of the countryside from public availability? Meanwhile, Kate’s sister, Pippa Middleton, has blocked footpath access on her 145 acre estate in West Berkshire, after evicting all the residing tenants. The old, feudal order remains. But today it is also being joined by a new force: the corporate bodies, pension trusts and speculative funds which are quietly buying up swathes of land and banking it to turn a profit. Last month the Government announced plans for a string of New Towns. One of them, Adlington, caught our attention. The land there has been held for the past two years by Belport Ltd, the same asset management company that recently purchased the Bridehead Estate in Dorset. Earlier this summer they shut off public access and brought fear of eviction to the residents whose tenancies are tied to the estate. A perusal through one of Belport’s many subsidiary company accounts for Adlington Hall, reveals that under ‘financial risks and mitigations for the investment’, “the business plan is to agree lease surrenders with long notice periods to maintain rental income while planning opportunities are explored.” In some cases, the old and the new are being brought together – and finding political expression. When Cirencester Park was paywalled last year, prompting a major response from our campaign, we were intrigued to discover that the Bathurst Estate’s former development director was Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK. His tenure oversaw a lucrative property deal whereby 300 acres of the Estate were sold for development. Yet since the proceeds of the sale were placed in an offshore trust based in Bermuda, they would avoid the associated capital gains tax. Perhaps they borrowed the idea from Lord Salisbury (Robert Gascoyne-Cecil), who in 2021 also tried to remove public access from his estate at Hatfield House. The family had previously “relocated” 2,000 acres of their English landholdings into an offshore trust in Jersey. The primary beneficiaries of the Tice deal - the Bathursts - have further form when it comes to access. Leafing through the archives of the now defunct Countryside Agency, we found letters from the late Earl Bathurst objecting to the nascent Countryside and Rights of Way Act (introducing a partial right to roam to England) on the grounds that - among other things - "the principle of dedicating public access in perpetuity over private land is totally unacceptable". Ironically, this was precisely the intention of his ancestor who purchased the land in the first place (mostly with proceeds from the slave trade), who presented the now paywalled park as a gift to the people of Cirencester. While the actual land of England is reduced to tax-deductible assets and private retreats for the super-wealthy, perhaps it’s fitting that those responsible are also busy fencing off Englishness itself, and selling it back to us draped in a cheap plastic flag. New DEFRA Secretary Last month we shared news of an impending Green Paper on access reform, due for open consultation this autumn. Since then, Angela Rayner’s departure from the government prompted a reshuffle and we now have a new DEFRA Secretary in post, Emma Reynolds – the tenth in ten years! As a result, the consultation has been delayed. Her inaugural speech at Labour conference did touch on access, noting that “a walk in the woods, a hike over the hills, a dip in the sea. These are the things that make life worthwhile. These are the things that make us proud to be British” and she invoked “the Kinder Scout trespassers led by workers from Sheffield and Manchester who fought and won the right to enjoy nature”. We have written to her suggesting ways these words might be made more than tokenistic… APPG Enquiry In the meantime, steady progress is being made on other fronts. The recently established APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) on Outdoor Recreation and Access to Nature has released the results of its first inquiry, with a strong headline call for the expansion of statutory rights of access, alongside other measures to improve the public’s access to nature. We submitted detailed evidence to the enquiry and are pleased this was at least partly reflected in the conclusions. AFFLO on Farmarama Podcast Chris Jones is a dairy farmer based in Cornwall and a member of our Access Friendly Farmers and Landowners group (AFFLO). If you’re in need of a lift, listen to Chris talk passionately about his experiences of being part of this group, as well as how he sees the campaign in the context of his work - he articulates beautifully the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities for landowners and farmers. Give it a listen (from 18:45 minutes) and pass it on! (Temporary!) goodbye to Jess, Welcome to Holly Jess, who leads our social media, is leaving us for four months while she hikes the entire length of Aotearoa! While Jess communes with the wood elves we’re delighted that Holly Astle, one of the powerhouses at Right to Roam Kernow, will be stepping into her boots. Holly is a nature illustrator, graphic designer and an experienced environmental campaigner. She’s also been involved with Right to Roam since our very first trespass. Welcome Holly! Local Group Updates Our local groups are incredibly busy - lots of events are in the works with a series of river trespasses planned over the coming weeks. More on these to follow in our next newsletter. In the meantime, here’s a few to whet the appetite: Right to Roam West Yorkshire ran a packed-out Wild Service Festival last week celebrating creativity, community and connection to nature through talks, art and workshops. The festival brought together local residents, community representatives and campaigners to explore how acts of wild service can nurture both people and the land. If you missed out, West Yorkshire will be doing a river walk and trespass along the River Aire. Meeting 9.45am for a 10am depart, Sat Nov 29th - Apperley Bridge Train station, BD10 0NT. Route just under 4 miles. RtR North West will walk along the river Bollin on Sunday 9th November, meeting at 2pm for a 2-3h walk. Exact location to be disclosed near the date - check on their instagram for details. RtR South Devon will be heading out to explore the River Dart on Sunday 2nd November - email for more details. RtR Wiltshire and Somerset will be out on the River Avon on the 16th November - more details to follow, also on their Instagram and mailing list. Finally, RtR Norfolk are looking for more people to take the lead on organising the events and actions for their group. If you've had experience organising with community or grassroots groups or you're good with admin and like working with people, then get in touch, please email Nadia: nadia@righttoroam.org.uk That's all for now - more next week. Lewis & Jon --- We’ve been campaigning for bold new access legislation for five years, and with the help of the generous support of a few hundred subscribers - each donating around £5-£10 a month - we’ve been mostly able to remain untethered to the demands of grant funding and fundraising. If you feel you could become one of our monthly supporters to keep us agile and focused, please head over to our website: www.righttoroam.org.uk/donate For the latest campaign updates, follow us on Instagram & Bluesky To get involved with campaign action, check out our website here. Want to become a Right to Roam supporter? Head here. Take Action Visit our social accounts Check out our site   This email was sent from this site. If you no longer wish to receive this email, change your email preferences here.