Blackbushe airfield stays common land
The court of appeal has dismissed a move by Blackbushe Airport Ltd (BAL) to remove the airfield from the register of common land.[1] The court refused to overturn the decision of the High Court that the land must remain registered as part of Yateley Common. That decision was defended by Hampshire County Council and the…
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More take than give
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, considers the new threat to open spaces from the government’s proposed demolition of the planning system. Step by step our cherished planning system is being destroyed. Last year we slated the government’s white paper, Planning for the Future. Now government intends to extend permitted development rights. This would mean that…
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We criticise sinister Police Bill
Along with 250 other organisations, we have signed an open letter to the Home Secretary and Justice Secretary calling on government to rethink the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which has its second reading on 15 and 16 March, having been introduced to parliament only days before. The bill creates numerous new criminal offences,…
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New public freedoms at Dorchester on Thames, Oxon
We are celebrating new greens and paths at Dorchester on Thames in Oxfordshire, after a long campaign which we fought alongside local residents. A new landowner, Mr Keith Ives, has removed fences erected by his predecessor. These denied public access to the historic Dyke Hills, a scheduled Iron Age settlement, and Day’s Lock Meadow beside…
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Chesham Bois Common saved from degradation
We are delighted that a damaging plan to create a tarmac, vehicular accessway on Chesham Bois Common in the Buckinghamshire Chilterns has been withdrawn in the face of objections. Last year St Leonard’s Church Parochial Church Council applied for planning permission for an accessway to the parish centre as part of a larger development comprising…
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Celebrating upland commons
Thanks to National Lottery players some of our best loved places in the uplands of England will be better looked after. A partnership of 24 organisations, including the society, will empower those who graze common land, the commoners, to manage them better to restore peat, create habitats for birds and butterflies, and improve the quality…
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We help to save Surrey common from enclosure
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to the Hon Peter Herbert for fencing and a gate across part of Blackheath Common in Surrey. Blackheath is four miles south-east of Guildford in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Peter Herbert, lord of the manor, wanted to erect…
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Hook Norton learns about common land
‘Common land is frequently misunderstood.’ So declared our commons re-registration officer, Frances Kerner, who gave an illustrated online talk ‘What is Common Land?’ to the Hook Norton Local History Group in north Oxfordshire on 2 February. ‘The word “common” does not mean that the land is commonly owned. Like all land in England and Wales…
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We slate cavalier treatment of national trail in Dover development
We have objected to the cavalier treatment of the North Downs Way National Trail in the ‘White Cliffs Inland Border Facility’ development north of Dover in Kent. The society has supported the objection from the White Cliffs Group of the Ramblers. The Department for Transport wants to shove the ancient way onto a circuitous route…
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Our new watchdog in the West Midlands
We have appointed Jack Jennings as our local correspondent for Sutton Coldfield and North Warwickshire. Jack will act for the society in keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces in his area and defending them from adverse change. Jack has lived in Sutton Coldfield for much of his life, and has…
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