Waterstock industrial development rejected
We are delighted that South Oxfordshire District Council has refused an application from Greystoke CB Ltd to build a science park at Waterstock golf course, about seven kilometres west of Thame. Our general secretary joined two walks in protest at the development and, when the application was published, we objected, in support of local members. …
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Seven-year fight saves Blackbushe aerodrome as common land
After a seven-year saga, Blackbushe aerodrome is to stay as part of Yateley Common. That is the final pronouncement of an inspector who has determined the application of Blackbushe Airport Ltd (BAL), made in November 2016, to remove nearly half a square kilometre of airfield from the Hampshire register of common land. We celebrate the…
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New common at Bury Wood in Hertfordshire
We welcome the decision of the Planning Inspectorate to grant our application to register as common land approximately 6.3 hectares of woodland near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. The land, known as Bury Wood, is adjacent on its north boundary to Sheethanger Common, both of which are owned by the Box Moor Trust. In 1968, application…
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Waymarking project for Maidenhead Millennium Walk
During August this year our member, the Maidenhead Civic Society (MCS), and the East Berkshire Group of the Ramblers (EBRA) have been hard at work waymarking the eight-mile Hurley to Maidenhead Millennium Walk. The route is between Hurley and Maidenhead Riverside, connecting at each end with the Thames Path National Trail, and was devised by…
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We win recorded route in East Sussex
We are celebrating the addition of a 2.3-kilometre restricted byway to the official map of public paths in East Sussex. The route was claimed, based on historical evidence, by our local correspondent for Lewes, Chris Smith. The path runs from Robin Post Lane in the north (to the west of the A27 between Hailsham and…
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Substandard plans for Chailey substations spark Defra refusal
We are delighted that an inspector has refused permission for a utility company to place new electricity substations on conspicuous sites on the Chailey Commons in East Sussex. UK Power Networks (UKPN) had applied to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for consent to place two substations on the commons—one…
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Oxfordshire parish reopened
‘Three and a half years of negotiation, and finally legal pressure on Oxfordshire County Council and on landowners, have reopened several kilometres of long-blocked public paths in the parish of Tetsworth, south Oxfordshire’, says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary. Kate adds: ‘Most people whizz past Tetsworth on the M40 in seconds, never noticing the spacious…
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Missing piece of Hudnall Common is restored
We are delighted by the decision of Hertfordshire County Council, the commons registration authority, to grant our application to register as common land just under four hectares adjoining the northern boundary of Hudnall Common, Hertfordshire. The land, which is one mile east of Little Gaddesden, comprises trees, ferns and bushy undergrowth and was formerly part…
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Refused: road across Dunsfold Common, Surrey
We are delighted that a planning inspector has rejected a proposed access-road across Dunsfold Common, 14 kilometres south of Guildford in Surrey. The application for a 5.5-metre-wide road, with 1.5-metre-wide footway and associated works, was made for Sigma Homes Ltd, the prospective developer, by Batcheller Monkhouse, surveyors and town planners. The proposed road was to…
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Land at Hatfield House restored as common
We are celebrating the decision of Hertfordshire County Council, the commons registration authority, to grant the society’s application to register as common land 1.8 hectares on the south side of Wildhill Road, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The land comprises a mixture of grass, shrub, and trees. It is just under six kilometres south-east of Hatfield House which…
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