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11 months ago
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A millionaire farmer who sparked national outrage when he put up a 300ft metal fence in the middle of a beautiful ancient meadow has told walkers 'they bring it on themselves'.
Defiant landowner Alun Brunt, 73, said Somerset's Iron Wall would not be coming down any time soon because it 'does the job' in Rodden Meadow, Frome.
Nature activists slammed him as selfish for closing off the field to the wider public almost a decade ago but this week Mr Brunt was adamant he had done the right thing.
They criticised him for turning a 'beautiful park into something resembling East Germany'.
Yet Mr Brunt told MailOnline: 'They make it bad for themselves. They think they can do what they can on your land.'
The ugly metal fence is six ft tall and 300 ft long and runs along the footpath in the field
Somerset's Iron Curtain sliced an ancient meadow in two, shutting off the field from the public
It was put up by millionaire farmer Alan Brunt, 73, almost ten years ago. This week, Mr Brunt told MailOnline he had no plans to remove it
From above the metal fence is a scar through the gorgeous Rodden Meadow in Frome, Somerset
The fence even has sharp metal points and spikes so no one can climb over it
'People were using [the meadow] as a 30-acre footpath - riding motorbikes, dogs, everything was out there.
'I thought, ''I've got to restrict the people to the footpath.''
'They wouldn't want me to walk on their gardens and lawns would they?
'I bought the field and if I wanted to put cattle out there, I couldn't because there were so many dogs out there.
'It had to be under control.'
Mr Brunt said since the fence went up he has used the field for cattle and to make hay for horses.
He added: 'We don't want dog poo in hay.
'A footpath is not a green space. That's why I did it.
'You speak to a lot of landowners with a footpath through their fields and it's a big problem.'
He told MailOnline: 'I bought the field and if I wanted to put cattle out there, I couldn't because there were so many dogs out there'
He added: 'People were using [the meadow] as a 30-acre footpath - riding motorbikes, dogs, everything was out there'
The grey metal fence cuts through the vast meadow on the outskirts of Frome
Mr Brunt said he used the field for cattle and for making hay. He said he would not have been able to do that if dogs were free to roam his land
Campaign group Right To Roam wants access 'extended to woodlands, all downland, green belt land, rivers and river banks'
The group also wants access rights 'broadened beyond rambling to include a right to kayak, swim, and wild camp'
He said other footpaths got metres wide during Covid as people flocked outdoors, sometimes ruining farmers' crops during their pandemic walks when 'there was nothing else to do'.
Not everyone agrees with the self-assured farmer.
People can access some land across England without having to use paths under their right to roam if the landowner agrees to it and as long as they follow stringent government rules.
He said: 'People in Frome were using the field beyond the footpath for many years'
Mr Moses added: 'It's his property but that's not the same as exclusivity. Land isn't the same as owning a yacht. Land has to be a sociable asset'
Although locals were furious at the time, Mr Brunt claims they had got used to the fence
He said the fence was serving its purpose and wouldn't be pulled down any time soon
Campaign group Right To Roam wants access 'extended to woodlands, all downland, green belt land, rivers and river banks'.
The group also wants access rights 'broadened beyond rambling to include a right to kayak, swim, and wild camp'.
Right to Roam's Jon Moses told MailOnline that Mr Brunt had turned 'a beautiful park into something resembling East Germany'.
He said: 'People in Frome were using the field beyond the footpath for many years.
'It's his property but that's not the same as exclusivity.
'Land isn't the same as owning a yacht. Land has to be a sociable asset.
'Nature has transformed my life. It's where we go for things that are higher than ourselves.
'Since the pandemic, we are seeing lots of these enclosures.
'All of a sudden the fences go up and that's it. There's a wider community interest there.
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