Jack & Irene Candy Bequest
Jack Candy, who died aged 95 in 2017, was a long-standing member and supporter of the OSS, serving as our Southampton local correspondent from 1999 to 2012. With his wife Irene, he was a champion of community heritage and open spaces in Southampton. Jack generously left us the residue of his estate, for the establishment…
Read More
We Fight Military’s Path-Closure Plan On Dartmoor
We have objected to a proposal by the Ministry of Defence to close the public footpath through Okehampton Camp on the northern side of the Dartmoor National Park. The society argues that this will be a blow to the public who will lose a direct footpath between Okehampton and the moor and be forced to…
Read More
Massive Development At Emmer Green Rejected
A massive development, proposed by Gladman Developments Ltd, on open land north of Caversham has been turned down following a public inquiry. The inspector, Mr Nick Palmer, rejected Gladman’s appeal against South Oxfordshire District Council refusal of planning consent for 245 residential dwellings and other works on land off Peppard Road, at Emmer Green. We…
Read More
Wiltshire’s Watercress Walk Is Now Recognised As A Public Path
The society is delighted that the Watercress Walk in west Wiltshire has been recognised as a public path, following a public inquiry in September. The route runs through woodland and by a stream east of Luccombe Mill in the parishes of Bratton and Edington and crosses land owned by Mr Henry Pelly of Luccombe Mill,…
Read More
Pulling The Trigger On Village Greens
Cooper Estates Strategic Land Ltd v Wiltshire Council and Richard Gosnell and Royal Wootton Bassett Town Council. This is the first court case to pronounce on the meaning of ‘trigger events’ (as defined in section 15C of, and schedule 1A to, the Commons Act 2006) and has worrying implications. Such an event, which includes the…
Read More
Threat to valued footpath at Tisbury, Wiltshire
We have objected to a planning application from the Wardour School governors to move a public footpath (Tisbury footpath 83) which runs across a field adjacent to the school. The school wants to fence in the path with steel post-and-wire mesh. The school has previously tried to move the path under the Highways Act 1980,…
Read More
We criticise new road-junction on Leigh Common, Dorset
We have criticised the Secretary of State for Environment for granting consent for further works on Leigh Common near Wimborne in Dorset. However, we welcome the views of his inspector that there are ‘clear policy reasons to reject an application for this proposal’ under the procedure adopted by the developers, even though she went on…
Read More
Campaign to reopen ancient Gloucestershire route
We are pressing Gloucestershire County Council to reopen the ancient Bentley Lane, which runs to the east of Southam village onto Cleeve Common. The lane has been blocked by gates since 2010. The old track is laid out in the Bishops Cleeve Inclosure Award of 1836 with a width of 30 feet. It leads directly…
Read More