Isle of Wight to have coastal access at last
We are delighted that the government has today (10 July) announced that the Isle of Wight will be included in the coastal-access provisions of Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Act excludes from the coastal access process any island from which it is not possible to walk from the mainland. Such islands must be…
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Delight at ruling against path closure at Maulden, Beds
We are delighted that a plan to close a footpath in Maulden, Central Bedfordshire has been rejected by an independent inspector following a public inquiry last month. Central Bedfordshire Council made an order to close Maulden footpath 28 which runs past the property Ein-Ty in Clophill Road. Because there were objections, from the Open Spaces…
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Pub extension could threaten beauty-spot Chilterns common
We have objected to a planning appeal which could threaten the lovely Ibstone Common in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Bucks. The owners of the Fox public house in Ibstone applied to Wycombe District Council for permission to extend the premises, including a basement function-suite with capacity for 150 people. The council…
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Waverley Council to rethink future of Haslemere Common
We are delighted that Waverly Borough Council has decided to defer plans to refurbish Wey Hill Fairground common at Haslemere in Surrey. The land is currently used as a car-park. The council applied for consent for works on the common, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. We and many others, including the Haslemere…
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Residents of Westgate-on-Sea, Kent, win new green
Residents of Westgate-on-Sea, near Margate in Kent, have won a new village green, following four years of hard work and a public inquiry. The 2.44-acre field, consisting of rough grass with a wooded perimeter, has been enjoyed by local people for informal recreation since the end of the war. Sited north of Ursuline Drive, the…
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Fisherman’s Beach town green registration celebrated
After three years’ hard work, residents of Hythe, near Folkestone in Kent have obtained town green status for Fisherman’s Beach in the western end of the town. Shepway Environment and Community Network (SECN), set up by local resident David Plumstead some years ago, first applied for registration in 2010 and finally achieved registration by Kent…
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We exhort councillors to back riverside route for missing link in Thames Path
Stop press: Unfortunately, at its meeting on 5 June, the council agreed to pursue the roadside route and the car park on Bridge Gardens. We shall fight this. We have called on Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Councillors to vote today for a riverside route to fill the long-standing missing link in the Thames Path National…
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Court of appeal thwarts Winchester village green application
The court of appeal has ruled that Hampshire County Council cannot consider an application by Barbara Guthrie to register land known as Bushfield Camp, at Winchester in Hampshire, as a town or village green. Mrs Guthrie had applied to register the land as a green on the basis of 20 years’ use by local people…
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‘Pathfinder Pat’ dies aged 97, still fighting for rights of way in Kent
We are sad to report that Pat Wilson, our vice-president and local correspondent, who fought for paths and open spaces throughout Kent and Medway for more than 50 years, has died aged 97 at her home in Kent. Pat was our local correspondent for Medway for 20 years. Before that she served as Ramblers’ footpath…
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Hedge removed from Goose Green common
Surrey member Hugh Craddock reports a success in waking up a district council to its duties under the Commons Act 1899. Many commons in west Surrey were put into schemes of regulation and management under the 1899 act by rural district councils in the first half of the twentieth century; Waverley Borough Council is now…
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