By Eniola Amadu
Swimming and wild camping should become legal rights for people across the English countryside, Labour MPs have said, as part of a push to expand public access to nature.
The call is set out in a new report from the all-party parliamentary group for outdoor recreation and access to nature, led by Labour MPs Andy McNae, Phil Brickell and Polly Billington.
The cross-party group consulted more than 750 organisations and individuals, concluding that public access to nature in England remains far too limited.
Currently, legal rights to roam cover just 8% of the country, mainly mountains, moorland, coastal paths and common land.
In contrast, Scotland allows a general right to roam across most of its countryside. Campaigners in England have held mass trespasses in recent years, demanding similar rights south of the border.
The report recommends widening public access to include inland waters such as rivers and lakes, alongside woodlands, and permitting more activities in areas where access already exists.
This would include swimming, paddling, wild camping, cycling and horse riding. At present, wild camping is legally permitted only on Dartmoor, following a recent court battle in which a landowner failed to block it.
McNae, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, said: “The call from the sector is clear: we need ambitious new legislation to expand everyone’s access to green and blue spaces. We have a unique opportunity to build on the legacy left for us by previous Labour governments, who have always sought to ensure that we can all enjoy Britain’s natural beauty.”
The Labour Party had previously pledged to introduce Scottish-style roaming rights, but later rowed back under pressure from landowners, instead promising to create hundreds of miles of new river pathways.
However, campaigners argue that riverbanks are often privately owned, leaving canoeists and swimmers open to abuse from landowners, while only 3.4% of rivers have an uncontested right of navigation.
Brickell said: “With 92% of the English countryside still out of bounds, too often people struggle to enjoy outdoor spaces. Now is the time to deliver lasting change, so that every one of us can exercise a right to responsibly enjoy our natural surroundings.”
The report also calls for guaranteed access to swimming and non-motorised boating on inland waters through new legislation, and for all children to experience at least one residential outdoor activity linked to the national curriculum by the end of primary school.
Stephen Russell of the Ramblers charity said the government had so far failed to outline how it would meet its pledge to improve access to nature.
“At a time where one in three adults in England live more than 15 minutes from green or blue space, the report makes clear that the new access to nature legislation is the only way to overcome the persistent barriers people face getting outdoors,” he said.
