Archive for January 2019
25-Year Environment Plan Evasive About People’s Enjoyment Of The Outdoors
We have criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for being vague about how it will measure its success in encouraging people to benefit from the natural environment. The society has responded to Defra’s consultation on measuring environmental change through its 25-year environment plan which was published in January 2018. In the…
Read MoreGetty Gives In And Withdraws Application To Fence Public Bridleway
Mr Tara Getty, grandson of oil tycoon John Paul Getty, has withdrawn his controversial planning application for deer fencing alongside and across a public bridleway, making the route appear private. The bridleway runs past Mr Getty’s Twigside Farm at Ibstone, in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Mr Getty wanted to…
Read MoreKendal’s New Road Common Should Be Green Space Not Car Park
We have objected to plans to reinstate an unlawful car park on New Road Common, Kendal in Cumbria. Mr David Fone has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, for consent for works on common land. Mr Fone is a private individual and the land is…
Read MoreChilterns Plan Should Promote Public Access And Open Spaces
We have called for a greater recognition of the importance of common land in the new objectives in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s management plan. We were commenting on the Chilterns Conservation Board’s draft management plan for 2019-2024. There are nearly 200 commons in the Chilterns covering 2,000 hectares. Many of them are…
Read MoreCall For Speed Limits On Common Land
We have called for enforced speed-limits on unfenced roads across common land in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. We made this plea in our evidence to the government’s review of England’s national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs), led by Julian Glover. The society emphasises the need to slow traffic…
Read MoreNorfolk Path Recognised As A Route For Riders, Cyclists And Carriage Drivers
A route at Trunch in North Norfolk, which was recorded as a public footpath, has recently been confirmed as a restricted byway with rights for riders, cyclists and carriage drivers as well as walkers. Postle’s Lane, Trunch – south end with signpost Ian Witham, our local correspondent in Norfolk, discovered evidence to show that the 500-metre Postle’s Lane, in…
Read MoreSeventieth Anniversary Of ‘A People’s Charter’
This year we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook, explains what it achieved. This is not just a Bill. It is a people’s charter—a people’s charter for the open air, for the hikers and the ramblers, for everyone who lives to…
Read MoreWalking Well In Carmarthenshire
We have recently learnt of a group in Carmarthenshire called Walking Well. It is a Welsh Government initiative designed to help those who want to get fitter, or just to stay fit. Carmarthenshire is extremely rural with a low population, and there are a large number of paths for the poorly-resource county council to deal with. …
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