Q. When is a libertarian not a libertarian?

A. When he's a landowner.

In the comments, I suggested Land Value Tax as a free market solution to the question of whether the State should be allowed to permit ramblers access to coastal paths even where they cross somebody's land. I don't think that The State "should" as it happens, but as a quid pro quo, under LVT, landowners would pay extra for exclusive access to the view over the beach, the sea and sky (which is what this is all about, really. I don't see how the owner of a cliff-edge plot can claim to 'own' these) and came in for the usual ill-informed flak.

FWIW, I concluded with this:

LVT is not a tax on "mere ownership of property", it is raising tax in the least bad way (per Milton Friedman) by expecting payment in return for the right to restrict the activities of others and for those particular benefits that accrue to you* but for which you do not otherwise pay. LVT does not apply to shares, incomes, moveable property, bank accounts or buildings or any other form of property (except maybe landing slots at airports and other special cases)

* A good example is owning a house near a railway station. The rental value increases merely because it is near a station, even though it is the passengers who pay for the railway, not the landlord.

If you are really a libertarian, then I assume you believe in free markets?

OK, if you own a plot of land, as a true Libertarian you say "I can do what I like on my land" but as a faux-Libertarian you then say "But I don't want my neighbour to do what he likes on his land because that reduces the value of my land". But in restricting what your neighbour does, you are infringing HIS 'property rights'.

As a free market enthusiast, I can only say that the best way to balance these competing interests is LVT. If your neighbour builds a block of flats that takes away 'your' sunlight, then your land value goes down and you pay less LVT. Your neighbour obviously pays more LVT. Automatic compensation, problem solved.

Free markets are easy to understand and they work. There is no special pleading or favouring one group over another, it all sorts itself out.