Posts by Abbie Cavendish
We help to secure new common land at Yateley, Hampshire
We have welcomed a decision to take new land into Yateley Common at Cottage Farm. Paul Freer, BA (Hons) LLM PhD MRTPI, a Planning Inspectorate inspector, granted the application of Falcon Propco4 Ltd (the owner of Blackbushe aerodrome) to deregister just over 14 hectares of aerodrome common land, and designate about the same area of…
Read MoreDartmoor camping: government must follow up supreme court victory
Welcoming the unanimous supreme court judgment, that there is a legal right to backpack camp on Dartmoor’s commons, we have called on the government to ensure that this, and other, access rights are extended nationwide. In a statement released as the court’s decision was announced today, the society’s general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, declared: ‘If Darwall…
Read MorePlymouth City Council reverses decision to build on Wilmot Gardens
We are delighted that the high court has quashed Plymouth City Council’s decision to build five houses on Wilmot Gardens, a popular open space in Crownhill. The society gave financial support to local campaigners fighting to save this space. Unusually, when faced with court action from Frank Hartkopf, on behalf of local people, the council…
Read MoreWest Northamptonshire Council told to reopen blocked paths
We have scored an important legal victory against West Northamptonshire Council which has tried unlawfully to close parts of three public footpaths at Staverton, two miles west of Daventry. The footpaths had been illegally obstructed by gates and fences at Wellbrook Lodge. Instead of carrying out its statutory duty to secure their removal[1] , the…
Read MoreDartmoor land restored as common
We are delighted that another, extensive, piece of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon has been registered as common land. Planning Inspector Mark Yates has granted the society’s application to register as common about 12 square kilometres known as Walkhampton Common. The land, which is immediately south-west of Princetown, is grazed and uncultivated. In 1968,…
Read MoreWe call for government land-use plan to include public access
We have criticised the government’s proposed Land-Use Framework for failing to address public access. While the society welcomes the plan to produce a framework, and recognises the complexities of doing so, it notes that the government’s proposal is geared to protecting farmland and food security, and does not consider the role of land in accommodating,…
Read MorePublic right to walk on Clinton Devon Estate’s new commons
Today, 16 April 2025, the public gains the right to walk on newly-registered common land on the Clinton Devon Estates at Woodbury, east Devon. This is thanks to an agreement between the estate and the society. In November 2023 Clinton Devon Estates sought consent under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 to deregister 1.7…
Read MoreCommons deserve the highest protection
We have called for modernising legislation enabling the compulsory purchase of common land, while retaining the existing, vital, safeguard of Parliamentary scrutiny in exceptional cases. Responding to the Law Commission’s consultation on compulsory purchase[1], the society endorses the protection for common land and open space subject to a compulsory purchase order. Existing legislation, in the…
Read MoreCall for Gloucestershire councils to promote new greens
We have written to county and district councillors, and town and parish councils throughout Gloucestershire promoting the voluntary registration of open spaces as town and village greens (TVG) to benefit the public. In his letter Chas Townley, the society’s local correspondent for Gloucestershire, says that ‘registration of open space as TVG means that it is…
Read MoreInspector refuses Adwalton-Common development bid
We welcome the government’s refusal to deregister part of Adwalton Common at Drighlington, five miles south-west of Leeds. An application was made to the Planning Inspectorate in April 2024 to remove 178 square metres of land from the register of common land. This is adjacent to West Street. The application was made with the apparent…
Read More