Posts by Daniel Cregin
Tony Drake, path protector, 1923-2012
We are sad to report that our long-standing member Tony Drake has died aged 89. Tony was a walker and mountaineer; for decades he campaigned for public paths, especially in his home county of Gloucestershire and in Wales. Tony was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the only child of Leslie and Gladys Drake. He inherited the…
Read MoreRed-tape review could threaten common land
We are concerned that plans to simplify the law of common land could put commons at risk of hostile development. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published its plans to cut red tape for environmental regulations. These include extending the range of works on common land to be exempted from the consent…
Read MoreDavid and Goliath battle for Harefield green
Next week is a further milestone in the campaign to save Harefield’s Medi Parc site as a green space for local people. On Tuesday (20 March) the public inquiry opens into the application by the Harefield Tenants’ and Residents’ Association to register the land as a village green. Harefield is a village on the western…
Read MoreWaltham Forest Council delays on its public-path duties
We have criticised Waltham Forest Council for failing to follow the correct legal procedures on public rights of way and for severe procrastination. The council has delayed adding a public highway to its official map of public paths (the definitive map), for more than five years. In 2007 local people submitted evidence that the footpath…
Read MoreWest Yorkshire green space saved in appeal court
We are delighted that the Court of Appeal today overturned a High Court judgment, so that Clayton Fields at Birkby, Huddersfield, will now be registered as a village green. The 6.5 acres of sloping, partly-wooded, green space was first registered as a green in 1997, under the Commons Registration Act 1965. The registration was overturned…
Read MoreCourt of Appeal judgment threatens village greens
We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal today upheld a decision of the High Court (23 November 2010) on Markham and Little Francis village green at Weymouth in Dorset. Read the judgment here. The judges determined that the land was wrongly registered as a green. It will be removed from the register, leaving it…
Read MoreAnne Wilks, 1918-2012
We are sad to report that our vice-president Anne Wilks has died aged 93. Anne lived for most of her life in Kent and was a tireless campaigner for commons, greens and public paths. She moved to Kent in 1924 and lived in Seasalter, Whitstable and finally Gravesend. Anne claimed countless paths for the official…
Read MoreDevelopment on West Sussex Common
We have objected to a planning application on Horsebridge Common, Ashurst, near Steyning in West Sussex. The application is to convert garages into a cookery-school and tea-room, but the building is on registered common land, which means it is unlawful. Works on common land need the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food…
Read MoreLandowners plan public-path grab
We have condemned the Country Land and Business Association’s (CLA) plans for public paths as ‘an attack on our historic path heritage’. We were responding to the CLA’s report The Right Way Forward published today. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘The CLA’s talk about “modernising” the access system is a lightly-veiled promotion of their…
Read MoreFighting a path move on Northumberland coast
We have objected to the proposed diversion of Beadnell footpath 31, which leads from Harbour Road, Beadnell, on the Northumberland coast, to Haven Beach. The plan has been published by Northumberland County Council, the highway authority, and objections must be made by 15 March. The proposal is to move the path onto a route to…
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