Let’s make ‘a night under the stars’ a reality
Following the judgment of the Supreme Court in Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority, we are calling on English and Welsh governments to legalise wild (backpack) camping on all open country. The court found that the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 confers, on those entering on foot or horseback, a right to wild camp on the…
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Come to our members’ day this September
To celebrate our 160th birthday, and the new access-structures and trees on our land at Parliament Piece in Kenilworth, we invite members to join us there on Saturday 13 September, 11.00-16.00. Come for coffee, talks, and lunch, a visit to the historic Abbey Barn, and an afternoon walk around the historic Parliament Piece led by…
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We help to secure new common land at Yateley, Hampshire
We have welcomed a decision to take new land into Yateley Common at Cottage Farm. Paul Freer, BA (Hons) LLM PhD MRTPI, a Planning Inspectorate inspector, granted the application of Falcon Propco4 Ltd (the owner of Blackbushe aerodrome) to deregister just over 14 hectares of aerodrome common land, and designate about the same area of…
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Dartmoor camping: government must follow up supreme court victory
Welcoming the unanimous supreme court judgment, that there is a legal right to backpack camp on Dartmoor’s commons, we have called on the government to ensure that this, and other, access rights are extended nationwide. In a statement released as the court’s decision was announced today, the society’s general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, declared: ‘If Darwall…
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Plymouth City Council reverses decision to build on Wilmot Gardens
We are delighted that the high court has quashed Plymouth City Council’s decision to build five houses on Wilmot Gardens, a popular open space in Crownhill. The society gave financial support to local campaigners fighting to save this space. Unusually, when faced with court action from Frank Hartkopf, on behalf of local people, the council…
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West Northamptonshire Council told to reopen blocked paths
We have scored an important legal victory against West Northamptonshire Council which has tried unlawfully to close parts of three public footpaths at Staverton, two miles west of Daventry. The footpaths had been illegally obstructed by gates and fences at Wellbrook Lodge. Instead of carrying out its statutory duty to secure their removal[1] , the…
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Dartmoor land restored as common
We are delighted that another, extensive, piece of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon has been registered as common land. Planning Inspector Mark Yates has granted the society’s application to register as common about 12 square kilometres known as Walkhampton Common. The land, which is immediately south-west of Princetown, is grazed and uncultivated. In 1968,…
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We call for government land-use plan to include public access
We have criticised the government’s proposed Land-Use Framework for failing to address public access. While the society welcomes the plan to produce a framework, and recognises the complexities of doing so, it notes that the government’s proposal is geared to protecting farmland and food security, and does not consider the role of land in accommodating,…
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Public right to walk on Clinton Devon Estate’s new commons
Today, 16 April 2025, the public gains the right to walk on newly-registered common land on the Clinton Devon Estates at Woodbury, east Devon. This is thanks to an agreement between the estate and the society. In November 2023 Clinton Devon Estates sought consent under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 to deregister 1.7…
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Commons deserve the highest protection
We have called for modernising legislation enabling the compulsory purchase of common land, while retaining the existing, vital, safeguard of Parliamentary scrutiny in exceptional cases. Responding to the Law Commission’s consultation on compulsory purchase[1], the society endorses the protection for common land and open space subject to a compulsory purchase order. Existing legislation, in the…
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