Protestors at the chalk-pit site at Breaky Bottom
Protestors have vowed will keep returning to a disputed site in the South Downs until they are granted the right to roam.
A rally of more than 60 walkers and children erected a symbolic fence around a disused chalk pit at Breaky Bottom, on land owned by vineyard operator Peter Hall on the downs between Brighton and Lewes in Sussex.
Despite the area being designated as open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, Mr Hall has successfully argued that the public be excluded because the unfenced chalk quarry represents a danger to walkers.
Yet opponents say his farm and vineyard are the most fenced farm on the entire South Downs, with numerous paddocks and vine rows protected by wire or hedges.
Kate Ashbrook, former Ramblers’ chair and now general secretary of the Open Spaces Society was joined by author Marion Shoard who has written a series of works on the struggle to get access to Britain’s countryside. Members of Red Rope, the socialist walking and climbing group and The Land is Ours, a campaign founded by journalist George Monbiot, also took part in the rally.
The event, which saw the walkers make their way from Southease to the disputed land, was organised by Action for Access. Dave Bangs, of the group, said: “The landowner wants his right to privacy, even though he already lives in one of the remotest and most under-visited parts of the South Downs.
“Yet what about the rights to enjoy the countryside and nature which all those millions of us cooped up in our cities, towns and villages need for our health and recreation? Wealth and land ownership should not be what determines our right to enjoy the countryside.”
Kate Ashbrook said: “It is outrageous that we are banned from this lovely site. The access land on the downs is pitifully sparse in any case. Breaky Bottom is the entry point to a delightful but very under-used part of the downs, and is only a short distance from the South Downs Way.
“All the landowner needed to do was to put about 70m of fencing around the quarry to comply with the requirements for making access land safe for the public.”
A spokesperson for the organisers said: “Our campaign is determined to return and return again to Breaky Bottom until we see Lewes District Council and Natural England secure the permanent fencing of this little chalk pit and the consequent re-opening of this site to public access.”
Peter Hall, viewed as one of the pioneers of British winemaking, featured last year in the BBC programme Oz and James Drink to Britain, in which Oz Clarke and James May toured the country trying various alcoholic products, including the Breaky Bottom vineyard’s sparkling wine.
