How to use MAGIC
Natural England manage the MAGIC website under the direction of a steering group. It provides geographic information about the natural environment from across government. The information covers rural, urban, coastal and marine environments across Great Britain. It is presented in an interactive map which can be explored using the various mapping tools that are included.…
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Fylingdales fencing plan rejected
We are delighted that a proposal for fencing across splendid moorland in the North York Moors National Park has been rejected. Planning inspector Martin Elliott has refused consent to the Manor of Fyling Court Leat, to erect over five kilometres of fencing on Fylingdales Moor. The applicant wanted to graze livestock there, but was deterred…
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New Track Would Desecrate Naphill Common
We are dismayed that Wycombe District Council has approved development, which includes a new track across Naphill Common in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The consent is for three houses in place of one at Heatherlands on Downley Road. Naphill is about three miles north-west of High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. Naphill Common We…
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McDonald’s ‘Drive-Thru’ On Surrey Common Refused
We are delighted that McDonald’s Restaurants has been refused consent to build part of a ‘drive-thru’ road on common land at Petridgewood near Redhill in Surrey. McDonald’s applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, via the Planning Inspectorate, for consent to construct the drive-thru on common land. Works on common land require…
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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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Jack & Irene Candy Bequest
Jack Candy, who died aged 95 in 2017, was a long-standing member and supporter of the OSS, serving as our Southampton local correspondent from 1999 to 2012. With his wife Irene, he was a champion of community heritage and open spaces in Southampton. Jack generously left us the residue of his estate, for the establishment…
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Kendal’s New Road Common Should Be Green Space Not Car Park
We have objected to plans to reinstate an unlawful car park on New Road Common, Kendal in Cumbria. Mr David Fone has applied to the Secretary of State for Environment, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, for consent for works on common land. Mr Fone is a private individual and the land is…
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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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Call For Speed Limits On Common Land
We have called for enforced speed-limits on unfenced roads across common land in national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. We made this plea in our evidence to the government’s review of England’s national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs), led by Julian Glover. The society emphasises the need to slow traffic…
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Seventieth Anniversary Of ‘A People’s Charter’
This year we celebrate the seventieth anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook, explains what it achieved. This is not just a Bill. It is a people’s charter—a people’s charter for the open air, for the hikers and the ramblers, for everyone who lives to…
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