Concerns over threat to South Downs ancient road

Britain’s oldest national conservation group - The Open Spaces Society - has raised concerns over plans to build a campsite at Coldwaltham near Pulborough which, it says, would threaten nearby Colebrook Lane.

Pegs and Pitches Camping is seeking planning approval for the campsite and associated buildings. But the Open Spaces Society is raising objections saying that it would have an adverse impact on people’s recreational enjoyment of the area and its natural beauty.

And it has criticised West Sussex County Council - which is responsible for public highways - for saying that the ancient road, Colebrook Lane, is a ‘permissive path.’

The Open Spaces Society maintains that the lane is a public road. A spokesman said that the council “fails to acknowledge the impact of the development on the road itself, that any person is entitled to use it and that, although not maintained as such, it is very probably a vehicular highway.”

The spokesman added: “The society considers it would be contrary to the purposes of the South Downs National Park if the National Park Authority were to grant the application.”

Hugh Craddock, one of the society’s case officers, added: “We are strongly opposed to this development in a quiet and beautiful part of the national park and its impact on the important, ancient Colebrook Lane.

“Most roads in the South Downs weald were like this once—unmade, hedged lanes deeply incised into the landscape.”

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