Overview
- A government planning inspector will examine Mill Lane next month and issue a legally binding ruling on whether it is a public right of way.
- West Berkshire Council backed villagers seeking to record the lane as public, and the owners then lodged an objection through their land agent.
- Pippa Middleton and James Matthews closed the route through Barton Court with an electric gate and signs that state there is no public access.
- Residents and the Ramblers Association cite long use, including under former owner Sir Terence Conran, and warn the closure pushes walkers onto a dangerous main road with no verge.
- In a separate planning case, proposed stables, a greenhouse and a garden room at the listed estate face archaeological warnings that groundworks could disturb unrecorded remains.