Jeremy Herrmann owns two grouse moors in County Durham and Northumberland (Muggleswick and East Allenheads respectively) which have been mentioned in this blog before – see here and here and more recently here. It seems that one Boris Johnson may well have visited East Allenheads for a spot of grouse shooting in 2015.
East Allenheads apparently needs a helipad; well actually it seems to have one, it’s just that it may not be a helipad with planning permission (see here, here, here).
The helipad is on Common Land, in an SSSI, in a Special Protection Area for Birds and in a Special Area of Conservation. To be fair, it is only just in the SAC and only just on Common Land (both shaded in green below) as it is right on the edge – but it is firmly inside the SPA and SSSI areas.
Here’s how the helipad looks – not huge really, is it?
But this image from Google maps seems to show that the concrete base wasn’t there a while ago – just an ‘H’ on its side by the west of the track. From inspection of Google Earth images it looks to me as though there was nothing there in 2002 but from 2007 a hard-standing of some sort appeared which has been renovated recently.
The RSPB has objected to the development (see here) but Natural England does not appear to have done so instead it has sent an advice note which is not an objection. To be fair, it is possible that Northumberland County Council’s website is not completely up to date but the RSPB objected in late September and there is no sign of a Natural England objection yet. The Ecology Department of Northumberland County Council has actually visited the site and seems to know what it is talking about – well done them (see here)!
I wonder whether Natural England did give permission for this (rather small) development within the SSSI, SPA and SAC – I wonder whether they were asked? But they have clearly been aware of it for several months. From the information on the Northumberland County Council planning website it appears that the RSPB is doing a far better job in using the planning sytem to protect designated sites than is Natural England, in this case. I’ll be looking further into this. But natural England is a statutory consulteee on planning matters so that it can protect6 wildlife and the sites on which it relies. On the face of it, we’d be better giving our taxes to the RSPB for this job…
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A helipad is about as necessary as the illegal moorland motorways he’s put in. Blind eye turned to those too?
As far as I’m aware the 1925 Law of Property Act makes it illegal to drive any mechanical vehicle onto common land. As far as I’m concerned that means quad bikes, tractors, land rovers, and helicopters.
It’s about time we saw an equal application of the laws of these lands
So you should add Helicopter Pad Manufacturer to the long list of professions that are being endangered by the Ban Driven Grouse Shooting petition…
Wow I have read some silly things on this blog in the past but this really is up there with the silliest of them. Anything, just anything to try and shed some sort of bad light on DGS (or is it the upper class, politicians/anyone with a posh accent??). Surely you have bigger fish to fry Mark?!
S – the planning system exists to control what people do. Natural England is a statutory consultee and should be doing its job in opposing damaging developments in protected landscapes. It appears that it hasn’t – but I intend to check that. I’m really not sure that Jeremy Herrmann is upper class – is he? You may be confusing wealth with class? I have no idea what his accent is – do you? Anything just to post a disparaging comment on this blog, S? Carry on, I have fishier fish to fry.
Just calling out silly things when I see it and trying to bring some balance to some of your comments Mark. I think you will find I dont always disagree with you, particularly on the lead issue.
Came across your blog after walk in area on Saturday. Crawberry area full of black grouse and shooting sounds echoing over hills. Wondered what opinions are on bird shoots? Have a friend who worked as a beater, but only once, found the slaughter too distressing. But generates income?