Latest News

Goodbye to blocked byway in East Sussex

September 2, 2024

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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Our new representative in Spelthorne Borough, Surrey 

February 9, 2024

We have appointed Ashley Redsell as our local correspondent to watch over the commons of Spelthorne Borough in Surrey.  Ashley will keep a close eye on developments in Spelthorne, and where attempts are made to take over common land, he will work with the borough and county councils, and local residents to prevent this destruction. …

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Waterstock industrial development rejected 

November 24, 2023

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 

November 20, 2023

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  

September 12, 2023

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 

August 31, 2023

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 

August 18, 2023

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

August 8, 2023

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

August 1, 2023

‘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

July 13, 2023

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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