We slate Lancashire County Council for path-closure plans
We are dismayed that Lancashire County Council proposes to close three footpaths which cross land at Helmshore Primary School, Haslingden, having failed last year to move them out of the way. The paths cross the field in the form of a triangle. The council claims the cross-field paths are a risk to security, yet it…
Read More
Lettaford saga
Last May our member Sally Button contacted us for help in reopening the Mariners’ Way footpath through the hamlet of Lettaford, near North Bovey in the Dartmoor National Park. The path ran through the farmyard of High Lettaford Farm. About a month before the gate on the southern side of the property had been locked and…
Read MoreWe fight proposed wind turbine in Herefordshire
We have objected to an application for a wind turbine, access track, hard-standing, substation and temporary construction-compound in rural Herefordshire. The planning application has been submitted by g2 Energy Renewable Developments Ltd for a 77-metre-high turbine at Halfridge Farm, Pippins Hill, Acton Beauchamp. Our local correspondent, Peter Newman, has written to Herefordshire Council, the planning…
Read MoreDefeat of Somerset solar farm
We are delighted that a planning inspector has rejected plans for a solar farm. The development was proposed by MS Power Projects Ltd at Ritherdens, Rumwell, on three fields about a kilometre west of Taunton in Somerset. Taunton Deane Borough Council’s planning committee overturned the officer’s recommendation and refused planning permission, but the developers appealed…
Read MoreWe slate Caerphilly Council
We have criticised Caerphilly County Borough Council for claiming that its legal duties to maintain public paths are merely discretionary. The council’s online survey on its budget, ‘help us to shape your services’, asks for the public’s views on what it calls ‘discretionary services’ It includes in these ‘Country parks, including public rights of way…
Read More
John Riddall—a lawyer for the people
We are sad that John Riddall, who lived in Bradwell in the Derbyshire Peak District, has died aged 86. He had been our vice-president since 2003 and was a trustee (1987–1993) and our local correspondent for the Derbyshire Dales district (1986-1994). With John Trevelyan he was co-author of the second, third and fourth editions of…
Read MoreTake care of your footpaths
In a recent edition of the Clun Chronicle, Cliff Freund, our long-standing member and former local correspondent for Shropshire, stresses the importance of getting involved, and supporting organisations such as OSS, if you want to protect your local rights-of-way network. Read his article here.
Read MoreHave you walked the Mariners’ Way at Lettaford, North Bovey, Devon?
We are helping our member Sally Button over a dispute concerning the public footpath (also the Mariners’ Way) through Lettaford. This is an ancient farm at North Bovey near Moretonhampstead, Devon (postcode TQ13 8RH). It appears that the definitive map is in error because the definitive route of footpath 6 is blocked by an ancient…
Read MoreCross-compliance on public paths should apply in Wales
We have urged the Welsh Government to require that landowners and occupiers who receive agri-environment funding keep the public paths on their land in good order. The society was responding to the government’s consultation on Common Agricultural Policy reform and cross-compliance. We have said that owners or occupiers who receive public funds for the management…
Read MoreCommon-land swap approved for Walton Heath, Surrey
The Planning Inspectorate has approved plans by Walton Heath Golf Club to swap an area of common land known as Beecham’s Field on the golf course for a site some distance away. The land to be taken is 80,000 square metres on the west side of the golf course (near the car-park) which the golf…
Read More