Woodcraft Folk wins the right to carry on camping in Sussex

A two-year battle between residents of Lurgashall, West Sussex, and the Woodcraft Folk has concluded in victory for the youth organisation.The Woodcraft Folk has been prevented from using land in the village for camping since 2006, after the local district council complained on behalf of residents.However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week granted the educational organisation a nationwide camping exemption certificate, as well as planning permission to use the site.This will allow camping activities to resume, although the number of young people attending the site will be lower than before, following an agreement between the site's committee and the council.Kirsty Palmer, general secretary of the Woodcraft Folk, said: "We're extremely pleased. The committee of Lurgashall Farm worked really hard on our behalf to get the community on side and we hope our camping activities will now be seen as part of the village."Most of the children who we take to Lurgashall are from inner-city south London so it's a really important experience for them."Despite the successful outcome, Stewart Hunter, the former vice-chair and lawyer for the Woodcraft Folk, said the legal battle had been a difficult and costly process for the organisation. "We put a lot of resources into this campaign, which could have been better spent on actually providing services for young people," he said.Young people will return to the site from summer 2008 and the exemption certificate means the organisation will now have more freedom to organise activities in other locations around England.Steve Carvell, head of development and building control services at Chichester District Council, said: "The conclusion of negotiations with the Woodcraft Folk have demonstrated it is possible to find a balance between the recreational use of land and protecting the character and amenity of an area."