New Bridleway?

Today saw the final submissions to the Public Inquiry, held in the Kingsley Centre, into an application for two new Bridleways between Headley Bridleway 54 and Cradle Lane (Kingsley BOAT 29) made by Maureen Comber in October 2000. Maureen, as many will know, has been a tireless campaigner for greater access to the countryside for many years and in addition to her role as Trustee of the British Horse Society she is also its local Bridleways Officer.

The brief history of this application is that it was originally refused some seven years after it was made. The decision was immediately appealed to the secretary of state who appointed a Planning Inspector.

The Inspector found in favour of the applicant and instructed Hampshire County Council (HCC) to make an Order for a Bridleway, which they did in October 2008. In November 2008 HCC objected to its own Order resulting in a Public Inquiry, held in the Liphook Millenium Centre in Sept/Oct 2009, which refused to confirm the Order.

An application was lodged for Judicial Review of that decision. At this point DEFRA quashed the decision and both HCC and the landowners insisted on having a new Public Inquiry, this one.

You can view the proposed changes to the Definitive Map here (PDF) and you can read the original (Liphook) Decision notice here (PDF)

Decision details here.