News Shorts and Other Busyness

Best And Worst Land Owner Of The Year Award

Squall 12, Spring 1996, pg. 11.

The Duke Of Westminster has just been elected as the worst landowner in Britain in a new annual awards ceremony co-ordinated by the Land is Ours Campaign.

According to the judges - John Vidal (Guardian Environment Editor), Charles Secrett (Director, Friends of the Earth) and Jan Clark (Green Party) - the Duke comes out on top of a large number of nominations for “his failure to exercise the positive responsibilities for reform incumbent upon the owner of such huge and well financed estates”. Quite!

Runner up in the prestigious awards ceremony is Tim Jones, a recent contender who might well clinch the first prize next year. Jones runs a company called Elitestone in Swansea and despite having no planning permission is determined to evict a well established community of chalet dwellers at Holtsfield in Wales.

Winner of the best landowner award goes to Daphne Buxton, who bought three acres of meadows on the edge of Rushall village in Norfolk and then created what is believed to be the first new piece of ‘common’ land established this century.

The Land is Ours Campaign are planning a major land occupation of an urban site on May 5th. Ears to the underground or ring 01865 725 537.