We Save Bridleway Across School Grounds
We have helped to save a 935-metre-long section of public bridleway across the grounds of Christ’s Hospital School, near Horsham in West Sussex. Our local correspondent, Paul Brown, and society member Ruth Fletcher (of the Horsham District Cycling Forum) were among the objectors who fought the change at a public inquiry—and won. The existing bridleway…
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Call For England Coast Path To Extend Up The Hamble Estuary
We have called on Natural England to extend the England Coast Path up the Hamble estuary in Hampshire to cross at the A27 bridge. Tn Natural England, which is defining the route of the path, proposes to rely on the Hamble-Warsash ferry to provide a suitable crossing point. It has not proposed to extend…
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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Mr Tara Getty, grandson of oil tycoon John Paul Getty, has withdrawn his controversial planning application for deer fencing alongside and across a public bridleway, making the route appear private.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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Norfolk Path Recognised As A Route For Riders, Cyclists And Carriage Drivers
A route at Trunch in North Norfolk, which was recorded as a public footpath, has recently been confirmed as a restricted byway with rights for riders, cyclists and carriage drivers as well as walkers. Postle’s Lane, Trunch – south end with signpost Ian Witham, our local correspondent in Norfolk, discovered evidence to show that the 500-metre Postle’s Lane, in…
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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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Walking Well In Carmarthenshire
We have recently learnt of a group in Carmarthenshire called Walking Well. It is a Welsh Government initiative designed to help those who want to get fitter, or just to stay fit. Carmarthenshire is extremely rural with a low population, and there are a large number of paths for the poorly-resource county council to deal with. …
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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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Massive Development At Emmer Green Rejected
A massive development, proposed by Gladman Developments Ltd, on open land north of Caversham has been turned down following a public inquiry. The inspector, Mr Nick Palmer, rejected Gladman’s appeal against South Oxfordshire District Council refusal of planning consent for 245 residential dwellings and other works on land off Peppard Road, at Emmer Green. We…
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Wiltshire’s Watercress Walk Is Now Recognised As A Public Path
The society is delighted that the Watercress Walk in west Wiltshire has been recognised as a public path, following a public inquiry in September. The route runs through woodland and by a stream east of Luccombe Mill in the parishes of Bratton and Edington and crosses land owned by Mr Henry Pelly of Luccombe Mill,…
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