The Ramblers' Association is alarmed by a high court decision to overturn a Devon landowner's conviction for breaking environmental laws on land surrounding Vixen Tor, one of Britain’s most breathtaking natural features.
In 2004 the landowner, Mary Alford, was prosecuted and fined for spreading fertiliser and clearing scrub to ‘agriculturally improve’ land without the consent of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), who are responsible for ensuring that environmental laws are respected. The land in question had not been used for agriculture since 1966.
The case turned on a finding by the judge that although the land had been improved without consent, the landowner did not break the law because she did not intend to use the land for 'intensive agricultural purposes', as stated in the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations 2001. DEFRA had argued that there could be a significant impact on the environment even from a relatively small intensification of agriculture.
Kate Conto, Head of Access at the RA said: “We urge DEFRA to appeal against this nonsensical decision. It’s vitally important that landscapes like this are protected and we very much hope that in due course there will be public access to this very special place”.
Mrs Alford 'improved' the land in 2002 in what was widely seen as a deliberate attempt to ensure the land didn’t qualify as access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The move to prevent access to the Tor provoked uproar amongst the local community, as well as outdoor and environmental groups who had been able to freely visit the site under the previous owners’ more enlightened view of public access. The Tor was closed to the public in 2003 after more than thirty years of de facto access when the new owner, Mrs Alford, erected barbed wire fences, ‘Keep Out’ signs and painted ‘Keep Out’ on the stone walls.
