Threat to valued footpath at Tisbury, Wiltshire
We have objected to a planning application from the Wardour School governors to move a public footpath (Tisbury footpath 83) which runs across a field adjacent to the school. The school wants to fence in the path with steel post-and-wire mesh. The school has previously tried to move the path under the Highways Act 1980,…
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Our clash with the military over threat to Cumbrian commons
We are set to clash with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) at the forthcoming public inquiry into the government’s application to deregister three large upland commons in Cumbria: Burton & Warcop fells, Murton and Hilton. This would turn the commons into private land and the application threatens to be the largest inclosure of common land…
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Fencing plan for Fylingdales Moor common
We have objected to a proposal to erect over five kilometres of fencing on Fylingdales Moor common in the North York Moors National Park. The application has been made by the Manor of Fyling Court Leet which wants to graze livestock there. Because the fencing is on common land, the applicant must obtain the consent…
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Protests over unacceptable damage to Clapham Common
The society is appealing to Lambeth Council not to allow another six-week long Winterville festival on Clapham Common in south London. We consider it shocking that Winterville is planned to take place again, when the Common has still not recovered from the damage caused by last year’s festival. The so-called ‘events area’ on the common,…
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Green light for Sevenoaks Greensand Commons Project, Kent
We are delighted that Sevenoaks District Council, Kent Wildlife Trust and other partners have won a National Lottery grant of £483,600 for the Sevenoaks Greensand Commons heritage project in Kent. The project, which we have supported from the start, aims to restore the commons as important open spaces with their fascinating history, abundance of wildlife…
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Council challenged over 50-year failure to comply with legislation
A question was asked at the full meeting of Powys County Council last month by Peter Newman, our local correspondent for Powys, about the failure of the council to comply with the 1968 Countryside Act. This laid a duty on highway authorities to signpost all public paths where they leave a metalled road. Peter went…
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Top priority needed for environmental principles
‘New environmental principles should apply to all public bodies as well as central government. Natural England should be given greater resources, clout and independence to enable it to fulfil new obligations to protect the environment.’ So we have said in responding to the consultation from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) on…
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We fight degradation of Naphill Common, Bucks
We have objected to a planning application adjacent to Naphill Common in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The proposal is to erect three houses in place of one at Heatherlands on Downley Road. Naphill is about three miles north-west of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. This application replaces a similar one which was submitted…
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Buxton footpath in Norfolk open at last
We are pleased that Norfolk County Council has belatedly replaced unlawful stiles with gates on Buxton with Lamas footpath 4, three miles south east of Aylsham. The stiles were in appalling condition and difficult to negotiate, and they had not been authorised on this public path (under section 147 of the Highways Act 1980)(1). The…
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Government’s planning charter fails to protect open spaces
We are dismayed that the revised Natural Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which was published on 24 July, gives no additional protection to open spaces, beyond a tiny improvement in wording. The society had objected in the draft to the restrictive wording accompanying the designation of land as local green space (LGS). The draft stated that…
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