New Push To Find Lost Commons
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Frances Kerner from Buckinghamshire as our Commons Re-registration Officer. Frances will be researching lost commons which are eligible for registration as common land under part 1 of the Commons Act 2006. Under Part 1, there is a new opportunity to register lost commons which were provisionally…
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Getty Gives In And Withdraws Application To Fence Public Bridleway
Mr Tara Getty, grandson of oil tycoon John Paul Getty, has withdrawn his controversial planning application for deer fencing alongside and across a public bridleway, making the route appear private. The bridleway runs past Mr Getty’s Twigside Farm at Ibstone, in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Mr Getty wanted to…
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Chilterns Plan Should Promote Public Access And Open Spaces
We have called for a greater recognition of the importance of common land in the new objectives in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s management plan. We were commenting on the Chilterns Conservation Board’s draft management plan for 2019-2024. There are nearly 200 commons in the Chilterns covering 2,000 hectares. Many of them are…
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Threat Of Deer Fencing Across Public Path In Chilterns AONB
We have objected to a planning application from Tara Getty for deer fencing alongside and across a public bridleway. The route runs past Mr Getty’s Twigside Farm at Ibstone, in the heart of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Tara Getty is grandson of oil tycoon, J Paul Getty. The Open Spaces Society, Buckinghamshire…
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We Fight McDonald’s Restaurants’ Unfair Deal For Common Land
Petridgewood Common, South Earlswood © Robin Webster – geograph.org.uk/p/5754682 We have objected to an application from McDonald’s Restaurants to build part of a ‘drive-through’ road on common land at Petridgewood near Redhill in Surrey. McDonald’s has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, via the Planning Inspectorate, for consent to…
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Green light for Sevenoaks Greensand Commons Project, Kent
We are delighted that Sevenoaks District Council, Kent Wildlife Trust and other partners have won a National Lottery grant of £483,600 for the Sevenoaks Greensand Commons heritage project in Kent. The project, which we have supported from the start, aims to restore the commons as important open spaces with their fascinating history, abundance of wildlife…
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We fight degradation of Naphill Common, Bucks
We have objected to a planning application adjacent to Naphill Common in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The proposal is to erect three houses in place of one at Heatherlands on Downley Road. Naphill is about three miles north-west of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. This application replaces a similar one which was submitted…
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The rescue of Cassiobridge Common, Watford
We are celebrating the registration of Cassiobridge Common in Watford as a ‘new’ common. Hertfordshire County Council has approved its own proposal to register the common for the first time, which will ensure it is protected from development and encroachment. The common is a small, nearly one hectare, area of green space next to the…
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Common-land swap defeated at Therfield Heath
With other objectors we are delighted to have defeated the proposed exchange of common land at Therfield Heath, near Royston in Hertfordshire. The Conservators of Therfield Heath and Greens wanted to swap 1.65 acres of common land off Sun Hill for the same area of woodland over a mile away. The proposed exchange was to…
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Appeal court upholds village green registrations in Lancashire and Surrey
We are delighted that the Court of Appeal has upheld the registration of village greens at Moorside Fields in Lancaster and Leach Grove Wood at Leatherhead in Surrey.(1) The two cases were heard together and the court has dismissed an appeal from Lancashire County Council which, as the education authority, owns the 13-hectare Moorside Fields.…
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