CAMPAIGNERS are opposing plans to put fencing in place on Rishworth Moor.
The Open Spaces Society is objecting to proposals by Yorkshire Water Services Ltd to erect 14km of fencing on the common near Ripponden to contain stock.
The application – being made to the Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) – wants almost nine kilometres of the fence to be permanent.
Kate Ashbrook, general secretary for the group which campaigns to protect land including village greens, common space and public paths, said: “This is a wild open moor, where people have the right to walk and ride.
“The fence will impair the beauty and freedom of this stretch of countryside and impede people’s right of access there.“Furthermore, the proposed fence runs close to the Pennine Way national trail, a route of international importance which crosses the moor.
“Instead of having an exhilarating wilderness experience, walkers would feel hemmed in and constrained.
“We have said we are prepared to accept some temporary fencing for no more than 10 years, to protect the bare peat from grazing, but we will oppose any permanent fencing on this wonderful common.”
A section of the fencing being proposed was the focus of a controversial application submitted back in 1997.
The plans at the time went to a public inquiry in 2002 and were rejected.
