Right to Roam plans mass trespass in Andy Burnham's Makerfield

The Right to Roam campaign is panning a mass trespass in the prime minister's Makerfield constituency to publicise its call for a public right to access the countryside on our doorsteps and roam responsibly over England’s land and water. 

The trespass will take place on Sunday 13 December. Its location will be revealed nearer the date. You can sign up for more information on Eventbrite.

Right to Roam says:

There’s a right to roam over just 1 per cent of the constituency. Despite big swathes of Makerfield being Green Belt land, local residents are shut out of the countryside that’s on their doorstep. 

Working with locals and the North West Right to Roam local group, we want to draw attention to this unfairness and to highlight Andy Burnham's golden opportunity to introduce a Right to Roam Bill in the next King’s Speech.

The campaign is holding two public events before the trespass that members of the public are welcome to join.

An evening event in neighbouring Wigan on Thursday 27 August, 7pm, at The Old Courts. Organised with the Right to Roam North West local group, and joined by Nadia and Guy from the national campaign, it will see discussion about increasing land access, who owns the North West and what access reform could look like. 

On Saturday 12th September, Right to Roam will have a stall at the annual Wigan Diggers Festival that celebrates the life and legacy of Gerrard Winstanley, the 17th-century land reformer who argued that "the Earth is a Common Treasury for All". Winstanley was born in the parish of Wigan, which includes much of present-day Makerfield.

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