Public access to woods and forests under threat
We are deeply concerned at the potential effects of the Public Bodies Bill on the future of the Forestry Commission’s estate. The Bill has its second reading in the House of Lords on 9 November. The Bill empowers the Secretary of State by order to amend how the Forestry Commission disposes of land, manages and…
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Cornwall’s flagship footpath illegally blocked
We have called on Cornwall Council to act swiftly in reopening the illegally-blocked section of the South West Coast Path at Carlyon Bay, near St Austell in Cornwall. The route has been partially blocked by fencing and a portacabin, erected in connection with Commercial Estates Group Ltd’s multi-million-pound development, and our member Gloria Price has…
Read MoreOpen Spaces Society fights gating order for Hove path
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…
Read MorePart of unique Galleywood Common lost for ever
Land at Galleywood Common, near Chelmsford in Essex, is to be sacrificed for industrial development. Galleywood is an ancient common which is mentioned in the Domesday Book and was at that time four times its present size. A four-day public inquiry was held last June into Chelmsford Borough Council’s proposal to swap part of Galleywood…
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Wormley nature reserve saved
The nature reserve in Wormley, south of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, has been saved from demotion. Broxbourne Borough Council, in its draft Local Development Framework 2011-2021, threatened to remove the Top Field and Cozens Grove local nature reserve from the green belt, which would have laid it open to development. After lobbying by local people, the…
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Plymouth Council drops Plymstock path-change plan
Plymouth City Council has decided not to proceed with a plan to alter the route of a public footpath across open farmland north of Hooe Lane, Plymstock. The landowner had applied to move the footpath from across the field to the field edge, around two sides of a triangle, on grounds which included avoiding conflict…
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Encroachments on Chiltern common
We have called on Chiltern District Council to take enforcement action against unlawful works on Layters Green Common, Chalfont St Peter, in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns. Willow Developments has planning permission to develop Willow Tree House, Layters Green, but the council has told the developer that it must first get consent from the Secretary of State…
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Finding Common Ground
We have published Finding Common Ground, the first-ever guide to how to recognise and take account of local-community interests in common land. The work was commissioned by Natural England, the government’s adviser on the natural environment. Read it here. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary (who wrote the report with Nicola Hodgson, its case officer):…
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Pennine walkers hit out at path cuts
Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook has slated government plans to cut local-council spending on public rights of way. Kate, who is also patron of the Walkers Are Welcome Town Network and a trustee of the Ramblers, was launching the South Pennines Walk & Ride Festival in the Walkers Are Welcome town of Ilkley, West Yorkshire,…
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New activist for South Derbyshire
We have appointed Barry Thomas, of Melbourne, south of Derby, as our local correspondent for South Derbyshire. Barry will be our eyes and ears in this area, keeping a close watch on the state of the paths and reporting any problems to Derbyshire County Council, the highway authority. Barry is a retired Derby teacher, where…
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