Why must we allow these trespassers?

[Red_John]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...-isle-of-man-12910356
Why do beardy wierdies have a right to walk through peoples back gardens? I sympathise with Clarkson and also Madonna who has had similar problems.

[starone]

If it was a right of way they have every right to walk there. If Jeremy Clarkson was arrogant enough to close it off then his own fault if someone tries to correct his mistake. However, it is apparently going to court so no doubt the argument will be resolved eventually one way or another.

[boxtops]

I don't know enough about the background of this particular story, but nobody has a right to close off a public right of way.

[Maydup]

Except I don't have much time for Clarkson who has chosen IofMan for tax reasons and fenced off a footpath. I feel less sympathetic than you maybe.

[Postdog]

Should have thrown Clarkson off the cliff instead......

[Bazile]

Why dont you go and put a comforting arm around him - you'll feel better for it .

[craft1948]

I like Clarkson..........he couldn't give a sh*t..............

[starone]

Whether you like Jeremy Clarkson or not is immaterial. Rights of way are just that - a right to walk there - and no-one has the right to close them peremptorily.

[BertiWooster]

Sgt Rosie Hawes, of Isle of Man police, said: "From a policing point I would say that no person has the right to damage any property not belonging to them. ''

'' From a policing point .... ''

Is that , code for - ( officially ) we are bound to apply the law, as law officers - however , my personal opinion ( unofficially ) , is that he is a jumped up tw*t , full of own self importance .

That's my reading of it , and I would definitely concur

[tamborine]

he should fence it to contain a bull.....walkers can still use the ROW at their own risk :)

[VHG]

>beardy wierdies

So people who want to go walking in the country along footpaths that have probably been there for hundreds of years are all "beardy wierdies".

Rather a pathetic statement dont you think.

Many public rights of way go across farmland, alongside people's houses, sometimes through private land.

If it is a public right of way it is enshrined in law and the person who buys the house or land will know that when they buy it.

A person has no right to block it off and they can be taken to court.

[daffy654]

///Except I don't have much time for Clarkson who has chosen IofMan for tax reasons and fenced off a footpath. I feel less sympathetic than you maybe.///

As this is his holiday home and not his permanent residence I don't see how this is anything to do with tax evasion.

[jackthehat]

Clarkson's wife, Francine, is a Manx-woman, hence the reason that they have bought a property on the island.
He hasn't stopped ramblers..........he altered the right-of-way to a position away from his house. Apparently, he was fed up of these ramblers staring through the windows at him and his children.
It was a small but vocal minority who 'insisted' upon their right to walk on the established path rather than the new one a little displaced.

[starone]

If he feels that badly he should put some net curtains up so that they cannot see in - that's what net curtaining is for. In any case he would have known about the right of way before he bought the house and if he objected to it he should not have bought it but found somewhere else. I'm sure with his money he would have been able to find an equally desirable residence.

[MoonshinePete]

When you have a very big head and plenty of money if you dont win in court the first time try again.

>>Father of three Clarkson, in typically blunt fashion, retaliated by calling them 'militant dog walkers' who 'spoil the view'.

'I want them to walk. I don't want them looking in my kitchen window,' he once said.

A government inquiry on the Isle of Man ruled in favour of the ramblers.<<

Not happy with the government inquiry stick another fence up and go to the high court.

[andy-hughes]

It appears the the legal rights of either the public to walk across the footpath, or Mr Clarkson to divert it, are still a matter of legal debate and enquiry.

If the footpath is deemed not to be a right of way - as in a legally esetablished route, rather than a path used as a long custom, then Mr Clarkson is within his rights to divert it away from his private property. If the law decides that the public do have legal access, then he will be compelled to remove his fence and restore the access.

Petulant destruction of his property is simply breaking the law, and should lead to prosecution for the offenders.

As to the question about 'beardy weirdies' having the 'right' to walk through people's back gardens - they don't. The law will take its course.

[jackthehat]

"Jeremy Clarkson, the TV presenter and Top Gear host who lives on the Isle of Man, became frustrated at the lack of privacy at his home when ramblers deviated from a pathway to take photographs of his dwelling, hoping to catch a glimpse of the star. Clarkson's property bordered a small 250-metre strip of land that had no definitive status as a public right of way but was used by walkers regardless. Clarkson aimed to close access to this small strip of his land, thereby forcing ramblers to take a small diversion to stick to the official public Right of way and therefore protecting his claimed right to privacy on his own property."

[ChuckFickens]

It wasn't an official right of way.

It was a footpath that the land owners had historically allowed access for walkers and when clarkson closed it the walkers went to court to claim that because they had access for so many years it should be designated as an established right of way.

[MoonshinePete]

Big bank balances = big heads to some take the Madonna incident

>> '''Ashcombe House''' is the country residence of American singer Madonna. In a controversial dispute with local walkers, Madonna has tried to have a public right-of-way across open countryside re-routed, citing loss of privacy and risks from stalkers. The singer has also been in dispute with the General Aviation community, complaining of the nusance of noise caused by light aircraft using the nearby Compton Abbas airfield. A recent attempt by Madonna to buy and close the airfield has not been successful. <<


Close the airfield , If they closed all the airports how would she jet around the world.

[RATTER15]

I see this thread turning to jealousy over a family that have money.

Personally I like Clarkson, I'm not a huge fan however.

If this path was there purely because some people have been taking a short cut across this piece of land, then why not claim it back?

If it is a public right of way then Clarkson should give it up and grow a hedge for privacy.

[jackthehat]

I fail to see why, when you are aiming to walk from A to B (this right of way is a path NOT a destination) it matters quite whether you walk along *this* path or one set slightly to one side.........

If he had attempted to stop all access to and across his land, I would have joined the protests, but he hasn't.