Give us a right to roam every river, not just nine river walks, trespassers tell government

Give us a right to roam every river, not just nine river walks, trespassers tell government

The Government’s manifesto pledge to create nine new river walks in England is unworkable, Right to Roam campaigners say, as they stage nine mass trespasses along rivers across the country.

For centuries, the vast majority of rivers and river banks in England have been off limits to the public, with access jealously guarded by their landowners. Some 96% of waterways in England and Wales lack a clear right of navigation. The Totnes Pulse recently published a detailed investigation by Lewis Winks into exactly who owns the River Dart here.

Labour’s election manifesto promised to “create nine new National River Walks, one in each region of England”. But campaigners say the pledge is both unworkable and inadequate – and are organising nine mass trespasses along rivers to highlight landowners who are blocking public access.  They point to that recent analysis showing that our one quite small river alone has 108 separate landowners – making it nigh-on impossible for Ministers to negotiate permissive access agreements with all of them.

Yesterday (Sunday 2nd November) 30 people attended a walk along the River Dart trespassing from Galmpton through the Waddeton Estate and then onto the Sandridge Barton Estate, owned by a company registered in the Cayman Islands.  At the end of the walk they met up with a flotilla of kayakers from Friends of the Dart, who were paddling up the Dart to raise awareness about river pollution. During the trespass, they collected several bags of plastic litter washed up on the foreshore.

The Right to Roam campaign argues it would be far easier for the Government to pass new legislation giving the public a default right of responsible access to all rivers, as well as to the wider countryside.

More mass trespasses are being organised in November along seven more rivers, from Cornwall to Norfolk.

Nadia Shaikh from the Right to Roam campaign said: “Rivers are the lifeblood that flows through all of our communities – they should be places where everyone can swim, paddle or walk in nature. Yet landowners have locked the public out, cutting off access to these magical places.  A promise to create just nine new river walks won’t help the vast majority of people in this country access nature, and Ministers will discover it’s a logistical nightmare to negotiate with hundreds of landowners.”

She continued; “It would be much easier for the Government to pass a new law giving the public a right of responsible access to rivers, river banks and the wider countryside. It works in Scotland, so why not in England?”

Guy Shrubsole from Right to Roam, added: “There are hundreds of rivers in England, so pledging to create walks along just nine of them is peanuts – why not give every community the right to access and care for their local river? After all, the Government and landowners need the public’s help to look after rivers – it’s been swimmers, kayakers and anglers who have raised the alarm about river pollution. Let’s end this feudal idea of needing the landowner’s permission to visit your local river, and create a right of responsible access to the countryside, so that everyone can enjoy and protect our rivers.”

River trespasses planned for the following rivers:

• River Dart, Devon – Sunday 2nd November (South Devon Right to Roam)
• River Wensum, Norfolk – Sunday 2nd November (Norfolk Right to Roam).
• River Bollin, Cheshire – Sunday 9th November (Right to Roam North West).
• River Avon, nr Salisbury, Wiltshire – Sunday 16th November (Somerset & Wiltshire Right to Roam).
• River Aire, West Yorkshire – Saturday 29th November (West Yorkshire Right to Roam).
• River Camel, Cornwall – Saturday 29th November (Right to Roam Kernow).
• Right to Roam Bristol – location & date TBC
• Right to Roam Leicestershire – location & date TBC
• Right to Roam North East – location & date TBC

More information on the Right to Roam campaign: https://www.righttoroam.org.uk/