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The Open Spaces Society,(1) Britain’s oldest national conservation body, has opposed Brighton and Hove Council’s plan to make a gating order for Farman Street, Hove. (2) The council wants to lock people out of the street between 9pm and 8am, claiming that the route is associated with crime and anti-social behaviour.
Says Kate Ashbrook, the society’s general secretary: ‘We do not consider the council has provided sufficient evidence that it is necessary to erect locked gates across this public highway. The
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CONTACT: Kate Ashbrook 01491 573535 (work)
07771 655694 (mobile)
Farman Street/2
council is required to prove that “premises adjoining or adjacent to the public footpath are affected by crime and anti-social behaviour” and that “it is the existence of the highway which is facilitating the persistent commission of criminal offences and anti-social behaviour”. We do not consider it has provided sufficient proof.
This is a pleasant, peaceful and popular route, and it should be kept open for public use. If it is closed during the night, people will have to walk considerably further and will be denied their right to use and enjoy this highway.’
ENDS
Notes for editors
1. The Open Spaces Society (formally the Commons, Open Spaces and Footpaths Preservation Society) was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s oldest national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village greens, open spaces and public paths, and people’s right to enjoy them.
2. A highway authority may make a gating order under section 129A of the Highways Act 1980, allowing it to erect locked gates at each end of a path.