hi I'm Kat from the motor home travel website wandering bird where we share
Practical tips and road trips at the UK and Europe. Today I want to answer
questions from David in our Facebook group who want to know about the
legalities of wild camping in the UK if you want to do in our Facebook group
that link is in the video notes below just click on that and I'll see you in
there now before I start if you want to get more Motorhome
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find out how we find places to our camp with our motorhome how we stay se how we
figure out water and power off-grid and all of that fun stuff we've got an ebook
telling you all of our tricks and you can find the link to that in the video
notes below a quick word on covert I am NOT by any stretch of the imagination
encouraging anybody to break any laws which may be in place right now so this
is a general overview of the topic for when it is safe for us to all get back
in our vans and travel again lovely another term wild camping deeply offend
some people when it comes to motorhomes and camper vans so by all means call it
free parking or informal camping or wild parking whatever makes you happy the
laws and the regulations are exactly the same whatever you call it but for us
we're going to stick with the term a wild camping because I think that is
where it's caused some confusion for people so let's dig into David's
question and forgive me I'm going to look at my notes on a fairly regular
basis because a lot of the information I'm going to give you our laws and codes
and I want to make sure that I get the information correct so apologies if I
look down every now and then but I will do my very best to keep it to a minimum
right David's question David others could anyone explain to me what is right
I always thought it was illegal to our camp in England but it was okay in
Scotland I've just been reading the camping
caravanning magazine and they say it's illegal to odd camp in any motor vehicle
in Scotland as well as England are they
right it's a great question David and I know that a lot of people in the group
had similar questions I'm concerned and there is a lot confusion about this so
I'm hoping very much to put all that to rest today I will to my best so let's
start with the easy bit you are right in exactly what you say wild camping is
illegal in England and Wales in fact Scotland is the only country in the UK
where wild camping is still legal however that doesn't apply to motorised
vehicles and this is where a lot of the confusion comes out there are three
different codes or laws that we need to pay attention to as motorhome campervan
owners the first is the scottish outdoor access code and neither in no order of
importance by the way they literally just the order that i've written down in
my notes so the scottish outdoor access code they say the wild camping is
lightweight done in small numbers and only for two or three nights in any one
place but it non motorized recreation and does not extend to activities that
are based on the use of a vehicle such as sleeping in cars campers vans or
caravans there is no legal right to park beside the road overnight but there may
be no objection in some instances so extra care is needed then we've got the
land reform Act of 2003 and the land reform act is a Scottish Parliament Act
that secures public access rights for unenclosed land in Scotland the part of
that Act that applies to motorized vehicles says that where you park your
vehicle is important not to cause any damage or create an obstruction by
blocking an entrance to a field around building making it difficult for anyone
else to use a road or a track you must have for God for the safety of others
you should not damage the verge and you must use a car park if there is one
nearby then lastly we need to look at the Road Traffic Act of 1988 which says
it is an offence to drive a motor vehicle without lawful authority on land
of any description which is not part of a road a footpath or a bridle way it
also states that you can drive a vehicle off road away from a public road for the
purposes of parking as long as you stay within 15 yards of a public road but and
here's the but do you still need the landowners permission most unmet old
roads unfenced land and beaches a private property and you don't have the
right to just park up whatever you like unless you have verbal written
agreements from the landowner the use of parking of camper vans or cars on roads
and labor is subject to the road traffic legislation and regulations off-road
parking of a motor vehicle on verges or adjacent land without permission is
unlawful there's also some confusion over the validity of no overnight
parking signs but I'm not going to get into that right now
so I've just thrown an awful lot of laws at you and all of those sound awful for
any of us who really enjoy wild camping so let's break this down into practical
application the fact of the matter is the most land in all of the UK is owned
by somebody it's all private land and we do not just have the right in a
motorized vehicle to turn up and park in reality and this is where things get
fuzzy wild camping it's generally tolerated as an overnight stop only
exactly like truck drivers are tolerated to stop enter in a lay-by so that they
can get whilst they're driving it is intended to
be a sleeping place not somewhere that you get out of an awning and a load of
chairs and make camp for a few days and that is where I think some of the issues
have arisen from because traditionally Scotland was a lot more tolerant of wild
camping in motorhomes and cameraman and now they've created these specific
routes like the NC 500 and the Southwest 300 and now that's one for the heart 200
if you want more detail there my link to our blog post below that shows you
roughly where they all are there are five really amazing scenic routes in
Scotland that everyone should drive but they have become incredibly popular and
the infrastructure just is not there to deal with the sheer mass of people who
want to go up and people either want to Wilde camp there a campsite and they're
a beautiful campsite drive on the beaches but a lot of people like the
idea of a wild camping we we love wild happening especially in Scotland is
absolutely stunning but there's so many people now and there are so many
inconsiderate people that I think a lot of the locals have just become a lot
less tolerant than they used to be so these stories about Scotland been
amazing for camping it still is if you go at the right time of year and if
you're really considerate but most people go in the height of summer and
they're not very considerate and that's why I think we're getting a lot of the
problems coming on because legally you are allowed to be moved on the locals
and if the owners of the land do you have the right say move on you don't
have to right just Park up so what do we do if you want to stay 100 percent
within the letter of the law use campsite if you are considerate and you
stay well away from buildings and well away from blocking people's view of say
the beach for an example then there are plenty of places where you can stay in
as a clue woodland area or car park that's off the
beaten track somewhere and stay overnight but we're talking sort of
arrive at six seven o'clock at night and leave by eight nine o'clock in the
morning I'm not saying you could say that for three days and that's where I
think a lot of people have got confused wild camping is literally just somewhere
to stay for the night so there are a couple of tips that we have to continue
the goodwill with the local Scottish landowners one is to not park in groups
if you see a Motorhome or camper van parked up don't part NEX them go find
your own little two spot somewhere so that there aren't you two clusters
always always take your litter with you and your waste with you now if you are
going to do your business outside make sure you're well away for water source
first start so nowhere near a stream or river or wherever you happen to be
parked up and also make sure you bury it but take your toilet paper with you you
don't bury toilet paper because animals dig it up and then they spread it all
around again and stuff there are places in everywhere in the UK where you can
pay to empty your waste and your toilet facilities I believe one of the major
clubs and off the top of my head I can't remember which one I think is the
camping and caravanning Club but it could be the caravan about a club they
have a deal where you can pay you see the five or seven pounds in order to
just turn up and use their facilities and we've done that into several places
we've just - never comes like even an independent campsite and said we'll pay
to strip to our waste and get fresh water and you can do that all over the
place so take your waste with you take all of your litter with you if you are
going to light a fire and we have a lot of mixed feelings about lighting fires
because we've seen people just put like disposable barbecues on the
and it leaves this huge scorch baptists that nobody wants that so we always
recommend getting a fire that's off the ground we I'll put a link to it in the
notes we've got a brilliant one that's on light legs and we can use that as a
bar it's barbecue but you can also have it as a little fire but if you're
somewhere in the middle of summer and it's really dry
I wouldn't recommend starting a fire you do not want to be the reason that you
cause an enormous problem so use fires with caution
also if you start putting a fire outside of your banner you start putting seats
out you're camping and although we call it wild camping it's only supposed to be
overnight parking so you've got to be really really careful with where you are
I don't think we've ever she says I think we've ever had a fire in the UK
you're a bit a lot more tolerant in certain places and you're we do it quite
a lot when we're miles away from anywhere the UK is not this tolerant so
I would say be very very careful if you're gonna start sitting outside your
vehicle and getting barbecues and chairs and things out a couple of things to be
aware of there are places around Scotland where they have set up systems
to make it easier for people to find places to park so the loch lomond
National Park you need to have a permit so that you can stay overnight in there
and that helps them keep the area clean helps them create revenue for the area
and that's one of the big things if you're going to go up to an area any
area and you're planning to wild camp for goodness sake go shopper
local shops or have a coffee at a cafe or put some money back into the economy
I think another thing that really upsets locals all these people turn up and they
want everything for free they want to enjoy the area for free so we try really
hard to put some money back into the in whatever way we can so I mentioned
love the month another area or place that's done a similar system is the Isle
of Torre and forgive me while I read this but they've got their own
guidelines for camper vans and they've created overnight parking spaces partly
they have pictures special picture though I think they call them soft sites
just for camper vans and motor home ins so you can say that I believe I've never
used them well I have been told by people who have they're almost like
Aires and I think the Scotland have created quite a few well I would
describe his airs which are basically approve motorhome parking places one
really really important thing that I want to make sure is very clear is on
the law of the road let's use the NC 500 as an example you have single track road
and then passing places do not park in a passing place it's not a lay-by it's
somewhere so that people can get past if you park there
it's you're gonna block the road so be really aware of where you're stopping
also be aware of the habitat and the signs around you if there are no
overnight parking signs we always obey them and move on a pine somewhere else
I'm not getting into whether they're legal or not that's fine so one last
thing is to not be inconsiderate don't play loud music don't have a group of
you all sitting around and you know laughing loudly until crazy o'clock at
night try to be as discreet as possible and as
respectful of the fact that you're there somebody's goodwill as she possibly can
I've had lots more questions on the practicalities of what we do with water
and waste and how we find places and how we stay safe and all the left out so
don't forget you can grab our ebook in the link below and that will walk you
through all of that stuff in an easy step-by-step way to follow it and that's
for the UK and for Europe if you want to go out camping in Europe so I hope that
helped answer your question David thank you for asking it was a really good
question if you found this video useful by all means give us a thumbs up I mean
love it if you subscribe if you'd like to see more don't forget the head to our
website wandering - bird comm we've got loads of itineraries for Scotland and
England and Wales places that you can go and general motorhome travel tips and
ideas for the UK and for Europe so I hope that you'll find all of those
useful I think that's it for me I hope you all have a wonderful week and take
care stay safe and I'll see you Basie okay
Jason every moment