V for Vendetta
During the day I thought about tonight’s post, had it formed in my mind. Then something happens and it all changes. Sometimes that post thought of is used later, sometimes it never sees the light of day. It’s one of the things I love about blogging. Today is one of those days, except I know what I had been working on will see the light of day as it is the first part of the gear write up from this years TGOC.
So what has come along to change todays blog posting? The Government has responded to the petition to Legalise Wild Camping In England And Wales (official site here).
You will be reading the following in a few places on the blogs over the next couple of days I would imagine.
Read the Government’s response:
“This Government appreciates the potential benefits of wild camping in England and its attractiveness to campers who already have the opportunity to camp in the wild in Scotland.
The Land Reform Act in Scotland allows for wild camping, but the land issues and the legislation in England are somewhat different. The introduction of wild camping in England would be a controversial issue, which would require both significant consultation and legislative change.
On open access land wild camping is prohibited under Schedule 2 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which lists all restricted activities. Therefore, new Regulations would be required to exclude wild camping as a restricted activity. Any change to the current rules on wild camping in National Parks and Ministry of Defence land would require new primary legislation.
The Government has no plans to allocate the necessary resources to consider proposals for such legislation at present, and is concentrating on following up the successful introduction of 750,000 hectares of open access land with new legislation on access to the coast in the Marine Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.”
Apparently people are waiting to hear my response.
Well did we expect anything different? You would like to think that the democratic system worked, and this e-petition was another way of demostrating it in practice. Let’s put that naivety to one side and listen to the cynical side instead.
When the response from the Minister is virtually the same as the one given at the start of the petition to John Manning (For an excellent anaylse of the reply and comparision to the initial one given in the early days pop on over to John’s blog and read “Feeling in-tent-sly let down!“). Which kind of says to the cynic in me that it didn’t matter how many signatures the petition got he would not of changed his mind. Did we really think we could change the mind of a Government that is financially and morally corrupt? Well that “Mr Smith Goes To Washington” part of me did. There has to be hope, and there still is.
I know that this response will make more people disillusioned with the political process. But don’t let it, it’s what they want, and how they win. With people going what’s the point, and giving up, nothing gets sorted, wrongs stay wrong. Yes it’s a set back, but there is still more we can do. There is an election on the horizon. Ask your candidates where they stand on the issue, and vote for those that support the same issues as you.
I had an email the other day from some-one who only stumbled across the petition after it closed and wondered why it had not been covered in the media better. Well it wasn’t for a lack of trying. But certainly places online and in print didn’t think the petition was news, and failed to report on it, let alone get behind the petition. They weren’t the only ones that didn’t get behind the petition some of the organisations that you would of thought would of didn’t either. These organisations don’t have an excuse that they didn’t know, as they were emailed about supporting the petition. If I belonged to these organisations, subscribed, read the magazines or websites, and supported the petition. I think I would be pretty pissed off and want to know why from these people that they didn’t.
The petition has come to an end with this reply. But the fight goes on. Discussions will take place and plans made. Have I got the stomach for a long battle? Those that know me and what goes on behind the blog know that I do.
E-Petition Closes
Yesterday the e-petition to legalise wild camping in England and Wales ended. The final number of signatures on the petition was 2017. Which means it broke the 2000 barrier comfortably.
Two outstanding efforts have been from John Hee and Stef aka Bearded Git. Who have both gone to a lot of effort to raise awareness of the issue and also get signatures. There has also been fantastic coverage and promotion of the petition by my fellow bloggers on their blogs. With articles ranging from the legalities of wild camping, to dispelling the FUD, to urging people to sign up, to keeping people upto date on the number of signatures.
The support from my fellow bloggers for the petition has been truely amazing. And it would not be unfair to say that without it the petition would not have come this far.
So a big thank you to my fellow bloggers, a big thank you to all those that have signed the petition.
Final Day Of Petition
It’s the final day of the petition for legalising wild camping in England and Wales.
After which it gets handed over to the relevant minister/department for them to respond.
So far 1975 people have signed the petition. It would be great if today we could make it to 2000. So if you haven’t signed the petition already please do so today. If you have signed it get friends and family to sign it as well.
A Rant About The Petition
Well last Tuesday I was reporting over on the petition website that the number of signatures had hit 1500. Inless than a week we are now over 1600 signatures. Infact as I write this the total signatures to date is 1662.
Wow! With twenty days left on the petition, before it gets handed over to the relevant department or Government minister, it looks like 2000+ maybe a realistic target to achieve.
What makes this more impressive is the lack of support from the mainstream Outdoors press. We had a column in TGO, and some coverage on their website. There was the three page spread in Active magazine. However Trail magazine has not even mentioned it, in print or online (although we were allowed to put some leaflets on their stand at The Outdoors Show). Shame on them I say. They encourage their readers to wild camp, with Sun style headlines, yet dismiss the issue as complicated.
It’s not complicated at all. It’s illegal (trespass to be precise and a civil law) if you don’t have the landowners permission. How hard is that to understand? To be fair I think the complicated statement was from them on The Lakes, by their Lakes ‘Guru’. Who lives up there, so you would think that a ‘Guru’ would know what the situation is before telling people to wild camp on other peoples property. Using the interweb he could easily of found out that The National Trust allows it on their land above 450m. So why not pass that information on? They seem to like blowing away the locations of “the best spots”, so why hide the legal side from their readers?
One of the other magazines not to have mentioned it is Adventure Travel. But their main focus is foreign destinations. So it may not of been of interest to them.
But the petition has also had no support from any of the “big” Outdoor lobby groups. With the President of the Ramblers saying publically that the issue is not on his radar. What hope is there of persuading them to get behind the issue? But no mention or support from the BMC, or TBC.
Why? Are these people hoping that the issue will go away, and that they can return to the status quo?
Despite the lack of support from those who you thought would of shown support. This petition has done fantastic to get so many signatures.
And this is due to the support of my fellow bloggers, and especially the one man PR machine that is John Hee. So once more a very very big thank you to them.
1500
With less than a month to go, the petition to “Legalise Wild Camping in England and Wales” has now reached 1500 signatures.
Wow, what a fantastic number to reach. Thanks to everyone that has signed the petition so far. Big thanks to all my fellow bloggers that have supported this petition and all the hard work they have put in so far.
Official Site here.
Twinkie!
So I have a supply of Twinkies to take with me on the TGOC. It was kind of my boss who was on holiday over in the US to get me a box. If I am even luckier then I will have another box in two weeks time from a work mate who has gone over to the US as well.
I just wish there was a more reliable, regular way to get my hands on Twinkies and Cup Cakes.
In the meantime campsites have been booked along the way (but nothing at the end), food drops arranged with them, and any deposits required sent.
Email Your MP
With the deadline (24th May) for the petition fastly approaching, it’s time for a bit more pressure to be applied to those in power. Yes we had the early set back of the reply that John Manning got via his MP. But don’t let that deter you, the more signatures on the petition, and the more MP’s that hassle him, the more likely it is that we will get a proper response that will be in the positive. So it is important if you support the petition to also email your MP as well.
If letter writing makes you lost for words (like it does me), then there are some templates you can use over on the petition website.
Thanks to those of you that take the time to do this.
My MP Calls Me
There I was getting ready to tidy up the posting I had planed for today (which can wait until tomorrow now) when I received a call from my MP.
Let me back track a little to explain why I had the call. The other day I got fed up with having not heard anything since sending my email about the petition to legalise wild camping in England and Wales. So I emailed my MP via his own website, firstly complaining about not having had a reply, and secondly to raise a matter connected with the “life events” I mention on here. I ended with an invite for the MP to join me on a local walk to discuss things, and allow me to show him the mess left behind by the Army.
Which bring us up to date, and back to the call from my MP. After he explained how my original fax/email (however that contact your MP site sends them) never got to him, he then explained he was very sympathetic to the the idea that wild camping should be legal, he mentioned about not leaving a mess. To which I did reply explain about how we follow a principle of leave no trace. He did say he would be raising the issue with the Minister next week when he returns to Parliament.
He was also going to talk to the relevant people also on the other matter.
So folks if you haven’t heard from your MP yet, see if they have a website (a lot of them do these days), and try and contact them via that. They should have a contact them option on the site. If they haven’t have a moan about that also.
Flabbergasted!
I find it incredible that the online presence of a certain supposedly popular walking magazine thinks it is news about some person throwing bags of poo into a tree. BUT the petition to legalise wild camping is not news, and hasn’t had a mention!
The guys who work on the magazine are great guys (apart from one or two who are self promoting and arrogant). They even let us put some leaflets on the stand at the show (the cool ones did). So why not go that little bit further and mention the petition as a news item? Whether you are for the petition, or one of those against it, it is news at the end of the day.
If any of the guys over at that site would like to contact me and do maybe an interview on this subject, or give a response that can be put on the petition website or here that would be great. I think people would be interested in hearing your side on this.
A Response From Lord Smith of Finsbury
As the picture to the left shows, I received a reply from Lord Smith today. For those that can’t read the writing in the poor camera phone picture I took, here is what it says:
“Dear Darren Christie,
Thank you for your letter of a few weeks ago, about your campaign for the legalisation of wild camping. I’m grateful to you for drawing this to my attention – and I’m sorry not to have been able to reply before now.
I send my very best wishes to you, for the cause you’re championing.
Yours Sincerely
Chris Smith”
It was kind of Lord Smith to reply, and also wish the petition best wishes.
But as we know from his interview with “The Blogfather“, the petition is not high up on his priorities.
Luckly 890 people who have so far signed the petition do not agree with Lord Smith. Sorry did I just say 890,WOW!! What an incredible number, since the weekend and the heavy leafleting campaign at The Outdoors Show over a hundred names have been added to the petition. Thanks to all those hard working bloggers that handed out leaflets, approached exhibitors and generally worked their butts off to achieve this.
I Need A Coffee
I have to admit that the last few days I’ve been brewing up more than normal on the dog walks. Yesterday I was out with my friend Mark. It was enjoyable being out with some-one else for a change. We chatted away during the walk, stopped at a quiet spot, brewed up. Had a couple of choccy biscuits with the coffee. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I did the same this morning again. Sitting there brewing up with the Army recreating Iraq or Bosnia on the firing ranges in the distance.
Once I’d finished I spread out my coffee remains so it was not even possible to tell I’d been there. But just as important so that they decompose quicker. Leave no trace shouldn’t be an after thought it should be second nature.
It’s hard not to see the litter that people leave, whether it is Army ration pack remains, or sweet wrappers or beer cans. How hard is it to pick this stuff up and take it home with them? I mean it weighed more to carry it to that spot!
In my opinion people that leave the litter shouldn’t be allowed on the MOD land. They are given access, but they have a responsibility as well. One of those responsibilities is not to litter.
But it seems like this is a problem with society. Too often from children to teenagers, to adults we hear the mantra “I have rights”. Too often we seldom hear “with those rights come responsibilities”.
With the petition to legalise wild camping in England and Wales, it’s not just asking for the right to do this, it is also acknowledging that with that right comes responsibilities. If we ignore those responsibilities then we throw away that right we are asking for.
It’s the same for CRoW, it says you have the right to access this piece of land. BUT you have these responsibilities as well. If you ignore those responsibilities then surely you shouldn’t have access to that land?
But the question has to be asked, do we deny those people who accept the right and the responsibility, and act accordingly that right, just because a minority will or fail to act responsibly or do you just target that minority?
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