Our stand against the grandstand
We save common land at Richmond Low Moor, North Yorkshire We have welcomed a court order setting aside the removal of common land from Richmond Low Moor following the society’s legal action. On 21 June 2021, North Yorkshire County Council granted an application by the Richmond Burgage Pastures Committee to deregister common land at the…
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A step up for England’s protected landscapes
The government has, at last, announced its response to the Landscapes Review in England. The review, led by journalist Julian Glover, was published in September 2019, more than two years ago, and made ambitious recommendations for the future of our national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty. In his foreword to the response Defra…
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Parks for ever
Simon Hunt, one of our trustees and the former chair of the Friends of Finsbury Park, reflects on the increasing importance of open spaces in the context of the pandemic and climate crisis. On 23 March 2020 the public was told to stay at home. Shops, pubs, gyms, theatres, cafes and restaurants were closed, and…
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Developer takes a wrong turn on Dunsfold Common, Surrey
We have welcomed the decision of an inspector to refuse permission for an access road across Dunsfold Common, six miles south-east of Godalming in Surrey. In her decision letter, inspector Helen O’Connor LLB MA MRTPI, appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has rejected an application by Kitewood Investment Ltd…
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Littleworth Road: A hare-laned proposal
We have condemned a proposal for works on Hare Lane Green [1] as hare-brained. The Luminous Property Group has applied to the Secretary of State for permission (for works on common land) to construct a raised and widened footway on Littleworth Road south of Claygate House. The footway would be bounded on the inside with…
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Our new watchdog in Herefordshire
David Howerski is our new local correspondent for the old South Herefordshire district of Herefordshire. David lives in Eaton Bishop, about four miles west of Hereford. He has had many careers, as both a parachute instructor and professional sky-diver. For ten years he was a Drop Zone Operator on the Gower Peninsula, and in later…
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2021 Report for the Stakeholder Working Group on Unrecorded Public Rights of Way
The aim of the Deregulation Act 2015 is to speed up the processing and determination of path claims. It is the result of many years’ work, and the consensus reached, by the rights of way stakeholder working group, consisting of balanced representation from landowners, local authorities and users. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook is a…
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The government’s betrayal on access—but it’s not too late
The society and other user groups have long campaigned for payments for access to be a part of the new, post-Brexit, environmental land management scheme (ELMS). We were dismayed when this was not included in the announcement on funding for the first level, the sustainable farming incentive (SFI). But the environment secretary, George Eustice, is…
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Give us back our green
We have called for the return to public use of Market Green[1] in Water Orton, Warwickshire which, we say, unlawfully has been closed off to recreational use. The owner of the land, Star Pubs and Bars Ltd,[2] has applied to the Secretary of State to remove the status of the land as town or village…
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