tions are challenged to Sheffield Campaign for Access to be possible for such trespasses to gather large numbers of countryside lovers and attract broad pubSussex activists are organising a number of research projects and at least two mass trespasses - on 14 June and 5 July. We are able to utilise the network of activists already created to fight for a South Downs National Park and to oppose habitat destruction and local authority land sales.
We cannot match the great trespass traditions of the Peak District and Kinder Scout, but that is our model.
For 50 years - since the half-hearted voluntary measures passed in the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act -the demand for a freedom to roam has lain dormant. It is ironic that its general revival should be the act of the Blair government, which, on so many fronts, has proved such a straightforward tool of private capital.
Decades of demoralising defeats for access and wildlife campaigners have meant the movement is illprepared for this major battle. The relentless destruction of biodiversity and historic rural landscapes by productivist farmers has left access campaigners with a deeply defensive culture - fighting hard for tiny victories and with little faith in their own ability to grasp major opportunities.
Our challenge is to turn this around. We cannot afford to wait another 50 years.