South Downs. Report on Breaky Bottom Land Action Sat 12 June
MarkiB
mark at tlio.org.uk
Tue Jun 15 13:14:15 BST 2010
Here is a short video of the action access walk by South Downs-based
campaign *ACTION FOR ACCESS* to Breaky Bottom on the South Downs, on the
chalk escarpment between Brighton and Lewes in East Sussex, on land owned
by Peter Hall of Breaky, on Saturday 12th June 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LErQTvfs8f
Press Release from *ACTION FOR ACCESS*, about their access walk to Breaky
Bottom on the South Downs on Saturday 12th June 2010:
We broke open Breaky Bottom!
A bunch of walkers from as far away as Dorset and the Chilterns walked the
forbidden Access Land site of Breaky Bottom farm and vineyard, near
Rodmell, East Sussex, on Saturday.
And they said "two fingers to the selfish landowner who wishes to remove a
right of access that has taken 130 years to secure".
They had with them Kate Ashbrook, Gen. Sec. of the Open Spaces Society and
doughty fighter against Nicholas Hoogstraten's footpath stopping antics,
and Marion Shoard, the author whose books highlighting the destruction of
the countryside and the inequities of landownership have turned around the
politics of the countryside in the last generation.
Sixty walkers and their children, with folk from the Ramblers Association,
*Red Rope, and The Land Is Ours, watched as we symbolically fenced the
steep slope of a tiny chalk pit which the landowner has been using as his
excuse for excluding the public from this statutory Access Land site. We
decorated the new fence with our ribbons, banners and placards. Despite
owning 'the most fenced farm on the entire South Downs', with every tiny
paddock and vine row fenced or hedged, this landowner so far refuses to
fence this chalk pit because its presence as a safety hazard constitutes
the excuse he needs to secure a Restriction Order forbidding us access to
this ancient flowery pasture.
Kate Ashbrook in her speech said: "It is outrageous that we are banned
from this lovely site. The Access Land on the Downs is pitifully sparse in
any case. Breaky Bottom is the entry point to a delightful but very
under-used part of the Downs, and is only a short distance from the South
Downs Way. All the landowner needed to do was to put about 70 metres of
fencing around the quarry to comply with the requirements for making Access
Land safe for the public".
Marion Shoard called for "a right of respectful access everywhere in the
countryside, as already exists in Scotland[vi]."
Dave Bangs, of Action For Access, said "The landowner wants his right to
privacy, even though he already lives in one of the remotest and most
under-visited parts of the South Downs. Yet what about the rights to enjoy
the countryside and nature which all those millions of us cooped up in our
cities, towns and villages need for our health and recreation ? Wealth and
land ownership should not be what determines our right to enjoy the
countryside."
Our campaign is determined to return and return again to Breaky Bottom
until we see Lewes District Council and Natural England secure the
permanent fencing of this little chalk pit and the consequent re-opening of
this site to public access.
------------------------------
The campaign for the right to roam has been going since the 1880-90s and
the first Parliamentary Bill was put forward by James Bryce in 1884. In
2000 the CROW Act (Countryside and Rights of Way Act) was passed, which
gave walkers a limited right of access over 'mountain, moor, heath, down
and common'. In practice the amount of Access Land on the South Downs
increased by only 2 %. Breaky Bottom was one of the 'precious fragments' of
old Downland which was given this statutory right of access.
*ACTION FOR ACCESS*
*Walking and working for a people’s countryside*
*Press release, written on 12th June 2010. *
*Contact Dave: T. 01273 620 815, dave.bangs at virgin.net or Kim: T. 0771 716
0530, kim.icity at googlemail.com*
------------------------------
[i] The campaign for the right to roam has been going since the 1880’s and
the first Parliamentary Bill was put forward by James Bryce in 1884. In
2000 the CROW Act (Countryside and Rights of Way Act) was passed, which
gave walkers a limited right of access over “mountain, moor, heath, down
and common”. In practice the amount of Access Land on the South Downs
increased by only 2 %. Breaky Bottom was one of the ‘precious fragments’ of
old Downland which was given this statutory right of access.
[ii] Marion Shoard published the famous book “The Theft of the
Countryside” in 1980, to be followed by “This Land Is Our Land” in 1987,
and “A Right To Roam” in 1999. Her website has contact details.
[iii] Red Rope is a socialist walkers and climbers group which has long
fought for responsible public access to the countryside, has always worked
for equal opportunities in access, and has led countless group walks and
holidays into remote and lovely places.
[iv] The Land Is Ours was founded 15 years ago by, amongst others,
environmental journalist George Monbiot, and has led strong campaigns for
land rights on both urban and rural issues. They publish a magazine called
‘The Land’. The Land Is Ours in Sussex organised the series of mass
trespasses in 1998-9 which was at the heart of the national campaign for
the CROW Act.
[v] The landowner, Peter Hall, has recently spent £15,000 on hundreds of
yards of new barbed wire fencing on this Access Land, splitting this slope
up into four separate paddocks.
[vi] The newly devolved government of Scotland passed a new access law
which gave people the freedom to walk at will anywhere in the countryside
they wished, provide they did no damage and did not enter private domestic
or business space. It has worked well. This legal and customary right has
always been held by the people of Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, and is
known as “allemansratt” (every man’s right).RESS
__________________________________________________________________
*Further background information on these two previous Press Releases:*
*OPEN SPACES SOCIETY*
*NEWS RELEASE*
*PROTEST WALK TO HIGHLIGHT UNFAIR BAR TO *
*PUBLIC ACCESS ON SUSSEX DOWNS*
Kate Ashbrook of the Open Spaces Society, (1) Britain’s oldest national
conservation body, is joining the Action for Access protest walk on
Saturday
(12 June) to highlight the unfair banning of public access to open
downland
in the new South Downs National Park.(2)
The land is at Breaky Bottom, on the chalk escarpment between Brighton and
Lewes in East Sussex, owned by Peter Hall of Breaky
Bottom Vineyard. It has been mapped as land where the public has the
right
to walk, but Natural England has endorsed the landowner’s desire to ban
the
public from most of the site—merely because there is a tiny, disused
chalk-quarry at one end of it.
The protestors will meet at Southease station at 10.35 am and walk to the
ancient downland slope from which they are excluded.
Says Kate Ashbrook: ‘It is outrageous that we are banned from this lovely
site. The access land on the downs is pitifully sparse in any case, and
some of the land which was mapped is inaccessible. Breaky Bottom is the
entry point to a delightful but very under-used part of the downs, and is
only a short distance from the South Downs Way. The views are
wonderful—indeed the landowner exalts the beauty of the area as a
marketing
device for his wine.
‘Mr Hall has won a restriction order to keep us out, on the limp excuse
that
walkers are at risk from the disused chalk quarry. He has recently
erected
new fencing right round the area and subdivided it into paddocks. All he
needed to do was to put about 70 metres of fencing around the quarry to
comply with the requirements for making access land safe for the public,’
Kate argues.
‘Natural England should have refused the restriction order, and Lewes
District Council, the enforcing authority for the quarry, should, under
the
Mines and Quarries Act 1954, order Mr Hall to erect a safety barrier
around
the steepest part of the pit. That would be in accordance with Natural
England’s statutory guidance for restrictions on access land. But it
appears that the guidance is now being ignored, to the detriment of the
public.
‘Originally, the Countryside Agency, Natural England’s predecessor,
refused
to make any restriction, but the landowner appealed and won the right to
close the land. The restriction has come up for review and this time
Natural England has renewed the restriction with only a small
modification.
‘So Saturday’s protest is to put pressure on Natural England, Lewes
District
Council and the landowner to make safe the chalk pit and open up the land
for public access and enjoyment’, Kate concludes.
*ENDS*
*Notes for editors*
1. The Open Spaces Society (formally the Commons, Open Spaces and
Footpaths Preservation Society) was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s
oldest
national conservation body. It campaigns to protect common land, village
greens, open spaces and public paths, and people’s right to enjoy them.
2. Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 the public
was
given the right to walk on downland as well as mountain, moor, heath and
registered common land. The Countryside Agency (now Natural England)
mapped
the land to which the Act applied. Landowners can apply for restrictions
to
the land, which are judged in accordance with guidance published by
Natural
England. Landowners can appeal against restrictions and the appeals are
heard by the Planning Inspectorate. In 2005 the landowner at Breaky
Bottom
appealed against the Countryside Agency’s refusal of his restriction and
he
won. Long-term restrictions are reviewed every five years.
*Kate Ashbrook** General Secretary** The Open Spaces
Society*
**
*tel 01491 573535** email: **hq at oss.org.uk*
<hq at oss.org.uk>*
website **www.oss.org.uk* <http://www.oss.org.uk/>
*registered charity 214753
__________________________________*
and -
*ACTION FOR ACCESS*
*Walking and working for a people’s countryside*
*BREAK OPEN BREAKY BOTTOM!!*
*DEFEND THE RIGHT TO ROAM !*
*Press release, May 29th 2010. Contact Dave: T. 01273 620 815, **
dave.bangs at virgin.net* <dave.bangs at virgin.net>* or Kim: **
kim.icity at googlemail.com* <kim.icity at googlemail.com> 07717160530
On *Saturday 12th June* Kate Ashbrook, the redoubtable Secretary of the
Open
Spaces Society[i], with many walkers and other lovers of the South Downs,
led by Action For Access[ii], will be demonstrating against the exclusion
of
the public from a piece of ‘freedom to roam’ downland[iii] at Breaky
Bottom
slope, TQ 404 053, on the Rodmell Downs between Brighton and Lewes, East
Sussex.
The slope is a lovely and ancient down pasture site with grand views and
lots of the old wildlife you get on what’s left of our traditional flowery
chalk grasslands[iv].
The landowner, who owns and lives at a vineyard in the valley bottom[v],
has
‘pulled out all the stops’ to prevent the public enjoying their new
freedom
on his land.
He objected to the slope’s new rights of public access:
- because he didn’t want the public enjoying this downland near
to
his home and business;
- because he wanted to protect his shooting rights over the
ground;
- and because there was a tiny disused chalk quarry at one end
of
the site.
Though his appeal[vi] was rejected on the first two grounds, he won a
restriction order excluding the public from all this site because the tiny
quarry was deemed a hazard[vii].
At present, Natural England[viii] - at its most supine - is colluding in
the landowner’s hostility to access by renewing, in a modified form, this
restriction order[ix] on the site, first granted at appeal.
* “More fencing than Guantanamo”*
This landowner has failed to fence the quarry *even though he has just
spent
£15,000 on re-fencing the entire access land site and fragmenting it into
four barbed wire paddocks. *Yet all that is needed is a mere 70 metres of
fencing for this quarry to be made safe enough to satisfy Natural
England’s
requirements for the re-opening of the site*.*
His farm earns him the title of “the most-fenced farm on the South Downs”,
with every vine row, tiny paddock and field, fenced or hedged.
And the local authority, Lewes District Council, has so far failed to take
the action they are empowered to take under the Mines and Quarries Acts to
fence the small chalk pit and thus enable the site to be re-opened[x].
*Our demonstration seeks to put pressure on the local Council, Natural
England, and the landowner to give us back our right to walk this ancient
downland site. It serves notice that no such acts of selfishness will go
unchallenged. *
------------------------------
[i] The Open Spaces Society, formerly the Commons, Open Spaces and
Footpaths
Preservation Society, was founded in 1865 and is Britain’s oldest national
conservation body. It led many successful campaigns for the conservation
of
common land in Victorian times, including major pieces of direct action,
and
was a co-founder of the National Trust. Kate Ashbrook is best known for
her
long and courageous campaign against the closing of a footpath by
convicted
criminal property developer Nicholas Hoogstraten, on land close to his
half-completed ‘palace’ near Uckfield.
[ii] Action For Access was founded in 2008 after it was discovered that
many
Downland sites that had acquired a statutory right of public access five
years earlier were still not accessible, due to landowner hostility and
local authority neglect. Many other formally accessible sites were
scarcely
accessible in real terms. We seek to introduce people to the countryside
which remains hidden from them. By doing so, we seek to enlist their
solidarity for campaigns to protect these resources from further
degradation
by private landowners, farmers and developers.
[iii] Unimproved Down pasture was designated as statutory Access Land
under
the CROW Act (Countryside and Rights of Way Act) 2000, together with
mountain, moor, heath and common land. In contrast to the relatively
intact
heathery uplands of west and north Britain, though, most remaining
ancient,
flowery down pasture has been destroyed by agri-business in the last 70
years. Only about 3% of the historic resource is now intact. Most
surviving
small fragments are on steep, unploughable land or land in public
ownership,
and many of these were already open to the public. About 80 % of the
Brighton Downs still have no right of public access, though they are
within
the new South Downs National Park..
[iv] Breaky Bottom slope has many butterflies, including Common Blue,
Small
Copper, Small Heath, Wall Brown, and Marbled White, as well as Harebell,
Scabious, and the rare Red Star Thistle. The site has the rare old
grassland
Moss Snail, *Pupilla muscorum*. The views encompass the most remote and
tranquil parts of the eastern Brighton Downs. The site lies only a few
hundred yards from the South Downs Way.
[v] The website for Breaky Bottom Vineyard uses three photos of the
vineyard
all taken from the access land slope. Clearly, this landowner is happy to
use this lovely site to help sell his wine, even if he hates the public to
have access to it in a non-paying capacity.
[vi] The 2005 Appeal decision is an Attachment to this email.
[vii] Most downland farms have a small chalk quarry somewhere on their
land,
and most access land sites have disused quarries upon them. Most of these
are unfenced. The public happily negotiate round or across them using
common
sense. Sometimes these unfenced quarries are large and steep sided, as at
Newtimber Hill, just east of the Devil’s Dyke, Brighton, which is owned by
the National Trust. If every access land site with an unfenced disused
small
quarry upon it was deemed unsafe and closed to public access then there
would be very little downland access land that remained accessible !!
[viii] Natural England are the statutory agency that oversees the
implementation of the CROW Act. They are an amalgam of English Nature and
the Countryside Agency.
[ix] The Review of Statutory Direction Summary for Public Consultation, by
Natural England’s Open Access Adviser, is an Attachment to this email.
[x] Though there is a clear precedent for Lewes District Council to take
such action. Teignbridge District Council, Devon, obtained the erection of
safety fencing at a quarry at Coombe Down, Dartmoor (Case number
2006010148)
and thus enabled the lifting of a restriction order on the public’s
exercise
of their right of access on that statutory access land site.
*
*
*ACTION FOR ACCESS**
walking and working for a people's countryside*
AFFILIATED TO THE OPEN SPACES SOCIETY
--
ACTION FOR ACCESS
walking and working for a people's countryside
AFFILIATED TO THE OPEN SPACES SOCIETY
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 155 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20100615/6dceb4e2/attachment.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 156 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20100615/6dceb4e2/attachment-0001.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 170 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20100615/6dceb4e2/attachment-0002.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 170 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20100615/6dceb4e2/attachment-0003.bin>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/x-ygp-stripped
Size: 176 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/private/diggers350/attachments/20100615/6dceb4e2/attachment-0004.bin>
More information about the Diggers350
mailing list