Secret access uncovered
The Open Spaces Society has welcomed the decision of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) not to appeal an order of the first-tier tribunal that it must disclose to the public heritage management plans (HMPs) for country estates benefiting from inheritance tax relief. An application was made by Kieran Foster to HMRC for the HMPs…
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Call for new ‘People’s Charter’ on 75th anniversary of revolutionary national parks and access law
Today (16 December 2024), on the 75th anniversary of royal assent of the revolutionary National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the organisations which collectively promoted that law, call for a new vision from government. Hailed as a People’s Charter, the 1949 act was to enable all citizens, no matter their background, to…
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Fencing refused on Norfolk common
We have welcomed the decision to refuse consent for fencing on Shereford Common in Norfolk. This is a small, five-hectare common south of St Nicholas’ church, Shereford (near Fakenham), and largely sandwiched between a country lane and the River Wensum. In August 2023, the Raynham estate, owned by Charles Townshend, sought the consent of the Defra…
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Parish council sets the record straight for North Yorkshire village green
Azerley Parish Council has persuaded North Yorkshire County Council correctly to record Bogs and Hodgson Top, at Winksley, five miles west of Ripon, as a village green rather than a common. The land lies to the north of the road from Winksley village to Winksley Bridge, between the River Laver and the road. In 1969,…
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New guidance published on purging pointless path-paraphernalia
We have published Removing and improving path paraphernalia guidance to local authorities, land managers, and rights-of-way volunteers on the provision of easy access to paths and countryside. The information sheet aims to help those who share the society’s goal of reducing unnecessary and undesirable structures from our public paths. Too often our way is barred…
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Last chance for Dartmoor backpack-camping rights
The final hearing on the Dartmoor backpack camping case is tomorrow (8 October) in the supreme court. The case, between landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall and the Dartmoor National Park Authority, has previously been heard in the high court and the court of appeal. Now it goes to the supreme court for final determination. The…
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Green-space neglect in government’s new policies
We are deeply concerned at the direction taken by the government’s revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Our case officer Nicola Hodgson has responded to the consultation on the revised policy. You can read Nicola’s full response here. ‘The government has not proposed any significant changes to the NPPF to support the creation and protection…
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Goodbye to blocked byway in East Sussex
Following pressure from Chris Smith, our local correspondent for Lewes district in East Sussex, the Firle Estate has reopened a blocked byway. This is an old, two-kilometre-long route, shown on some eighteenth-century maps. It runs between Newelm, west of Firle, westwards to the A26 road at The Lay in Beddingham parish. It was probably first…
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Byway-blockage epidemic in Wiltshire
The society has been pressing Wiltshire Council to secure the removal of obstructions on byways in Wiltshire. The council has finally acted—but only in one case, ordering a farmer to remove a set of illegal gates across a byway in the Wylye Valley. That followed a statutory notice from us requiring the council to have…
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Gerry Stewart, 1933 – 2024
We are sad that our local correspondent for Cotswold District in Gloucestershire who served for 26 years, has died aged 90. Gerald Frederick Stewart, known as Gerry, was born in Winchcombe on 5 September 1933. He moved, as a young child, to Frampton Cottages, near the village of Alderton, six miles east of Tewkesbury. He…
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