Long Green Common, Suffolk, saved from suburbanisation
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has rejected an application for a driveway across Long Green and Spears Hill Common, at Wortham in Suffolk. Mrs KMP Smith, the owner of Deo Gratias which adjoins the common, had applied, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, for consent to construct an…
Read MoreDismay at decision on Epworth footpath
We are dismayed at the outcome of the long saga to prevent Epworth footpath number 74, 15 miles south-west of Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire, from being moved to an inferior route. We had backed local people, including its member Graham Wager of Epworth Turbary, in opposing the plan. Following a public inquiry which ended in…
Read More
Bad dreams for bed magnate
Michael Clare, founder of the Bed emporium ‘Dreams’, and his wife Carol must remove a high, galvanised-steel ‘gate’ which they erected without planning permission on their £22-million estate, Turville Court. They then sought retrospective consent from Wycombe District Council, which has been refused. The matter is now in the hands of the council’s enforcement officer.…
Read MoreBattle to save West Durrington Greenspace
We are backing local campaigners in their fight to save ancient woodlands from development, at Titnore Lane, West Durrington near Worthing in West Sussex. We have written to Paul Yallop, leader of Worthing Borough Council, and James Appleton, head of planning, urging them to reject the plans for 1,250 houses and other buildings there. The…
Read More
Prison-like fence must go
The society has objected to a retrospective planning application for a close-boarded fence, nearly two metres high, alongside the public footpath at Deanacre, off Deanfield Road in Henley-on-Thames. Mr Philip Turner, of 2 Deanacre, has applied to South Oxfordshire District Council for consent for the fence which was erected without planning permission last year, replacing…
Read MoreWe question Bristol’s green credentials
We have today questioned Bristol’s claims to be a ‘green capital’. Objecting to an application by Bristol Zoo to continue to use one of the best parts of the city’s famous Downs as a large car park on the finest days of the year, Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary said: ‘This is the fifth time…
Read MoreBeauty-spot path on Cornish coast to be reopened at last
The claimed footpath at Carlyon Bay, St Austell in Cornwall is at last being reopened, after being submerged by development. The society’s members Gloria and Peter Price have led the campaign to win back the path. The Prices claimed the route, from Beach Road to the former Coliseum Building, for the official map of public…
Read MoreAnger at West Sussex County Council’s decision on National Park
Countryside organizations have today reacted angrily to the news that West Sussex County Council has ignored pleas from the public, environmental organizations and even its own Environment Committee about public paths in the South Downs National Park. The County Council has announced it will definitely take back the maintenance of rights of way and countryside…
Read MoreDevelopers must heed common land and public paths
‘Developers must be aware of registered common land and public paths on their land before they finalise their plans—or they will have to face big hold-ups.’ This is our response to the Penfold Review of Non-Planning Consents (Department of Business, Innovation and Skills). The aim of the review is ‘to explore whether the process for…
Read MoreWe speak out to save Kensington’s Athlone gardens
‘Catastrophic’ is how we have described the effect of the proposed redevelopment of Wornington Green Estate, London W10, on the adjoining Athlone Gardens (1). Our London representative, Bernard Selwyn, has written to Kensington and Chelsea Council to object to the Kensington Housing Trust’s planning application because of its effect on Athlone Gardens. Says Bernard: ‘The…
Read More