Latest News

Our manifesto for green spaces

June 9, 2014

We have published our manifesto for the 2015 Westminster election. We are calling on politicians of all parties to support these policies. Good-quality paths and green spaces are vital to people’s well-being and they support the economy too. So we are urging politicians to adopt policies which protect and promote commons, greens, other open spaces…

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Beauty-spot wind-turbine slated

June 9, 2014

We have added our voice to objectors to a 40-metre-high wind turbine in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The turbine is proposed at Israel Farm, Lawkland, four miles west of Settle.  Other objectors include CPRE Craven and Lawkland Parish Council. The Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty should be…

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We exhort councillors to back riverside route for missing link in Thames Path

June 6, 2014

Stop press:  Unfortunately, at its meeting on 5 June, the council agreed to pursue the roadside route and the car park on Bridge Gardens. We shall fight this. We have called on Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Councillors to vote today for a riverside route to fill the long-standing missing link in the Thames Path National…

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Remove unlawful fence on Nottinghamshire common

June 6, 2014

We hope that Nottinghamshire County Council will take enforcement action against an unlawful fence on Hanging Hill Lane Common, Normanton-on-Trent. The common is a long strip, consisting of Hanging Hill Lane and a broad verge on either side. The verge is used by walkers and for access to adjoining fields, and the fence encloses part…

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Supreme Court denies village green protection in Whitby

May 21, 2014

R (on the application of Barkas) v North Yorkshire County Council [2014] UKSC31 (summary, full judgment). The Supreme Court has ruled that land at Helredale, on the south-east side of Whitby in North Yorkshire, cannot be registered as a village green. In October 2007 the Helredale Neighbourhood Council applied to register 14 hectares of land…

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Bushfield Camp image: Chris Talbot

Court of appeal thwarts Winchester village green application

May 19, 2014

The court of appeal has ruled that Hampshire County Council cannot consider an application by Barbara Guthrie to register land known as Bushfield Camp, at Winchester in Hampshire, as a town or village green. Mrs Guthrie had applied to register the land as a green on the basis of 20 years’ use by local people…

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New green for residents of Talybont, Ceredigion

May 1, 2014

We are delighted that local people have succeeded in registering land at Talybont, Ceredigion, as a village green.  The land, known as Patchyn Plant, is on the east side of the Maes-y-deri housing estate. The application for green status was made to Ceredigion Council by Ms Sue Jones-Hughes in November 2011 on the ground that…

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A fair exchange

April 28, 2014

In February the Planning Inspectorate approved an application from Mr Ewan Bumpstead to swap 418 square metres of common land in front of his property at Booker in Buckinghamshire with 2544 square metres in a nearby wood. We supported the application. When Mr Bumpstead bought the property in 2010 he knew that the land in…

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Reignite the campaigning Kinder trespassers’ zeal

April 26, 2014

‘We must reignite the campaigning zeal of the Kinder trespassers.  Times are tough for countryside campaigners, but the spirit of Kinder will carry us through.’ So declared our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, at the Spirit of Kinder event to celebrate the 82nd anniversary of the famous mass trespass.  This was held at Sheffield Town Hall…

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Public Right of Way to Crinnis Beach at Carlyon Bay

April 20, 2014

There is to be a Public Inquiry on Tuesday 10th June 2014 starting at 10.00 a.m. To be held in the Council Chamber at St Austell One Stop-Shop, 39 Penwinnick Road, St. Austell PL25 5DR. Cornwall Council has already found that this right exists, to mean high water mark. However, objections to this small, but…

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