UK Government is planning to bring in a new law to stop people sleeping in vans overnight.
As a new ueser I can’t post a link but please search for it.
One article was from Euronews / travel
There are others.
On the Euronews one there is a link to a petition to stop it.
Please sign and share
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Here’s a link to the article:
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So… previously it has been “okay” to camp and make campfire on someone’s private land without asking for permission from the owner? No wonder they are cracking down on such behavior.
I don’t think it’s just private land - private land I can sort of understand. They did the same in New Zealand - if a city or local council deems it illegal, they can ban it, but have to post signs etc. Also, on certain public lands the van has to be self-contained, meaning a toilet and no dumping waste water on the land. It made our trip to New Zealand more expensive last year because most of the time we had to camp at an established campsite.
In general, Europeans view private land differently than here in the States. In most places it’s not illegal to “trespass” as long as you’re not doing any harm or damage. A much more civilized approach. And in most places there are no great swaths of public land like here in the western United States. When I lived in Europe it was very nice to not have to worry about angry idiot landowners with shotguns!
Here in Finland we have “every man’s rights” that allow people to pass through anyone’s land and even collect berries and mushrooms. However only non motorized traffic is okay and no fire making, no wood cutting, no collecting of moss etc. Main rule of the thumb is “stay out of sight of any residence”. Basically it does not apply to van life at all, since you would need landowner’s permission to drive off the road in the first place.
Limits to above are certain obvious places, like army training grounds, border zone… umm… nuclear plant had a no go zone around it. But in general, pretty much anywhere is okay to go on foot, bicycle or horse.