Campaigners have defeated a move to build a care home on common land.

Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in East Sussex had applied to deregister land on Crowborough Common to build the home. It proposed to offer alternative land for the area lost.

But planning inspector Peter Millman turned down the bid, saying the land on offer would not be as valuable as the common land taken.

The public has the right to walk and exercise on common land, some of which is used as a golf course by the club.

Rejecting the club’s plans on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Mr Millman said: “In terms of amenity and views, the replacement land would not be as valuable to the neighbourhood as the release land.”  The inspector also said that granting the application would not benefit nature conservation nor conserve biodiversity.

The Open Spaces Society, which supported local objectors to the plan, welcomed the decision. The society’s case officer Nicola Hodgson said: “We are very pleased that the inspector has upheld our objections and refused to allow deregistration of part of the common.”

In addition to access rights under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Crowborough Common, has a right to walk and ride under the Law of Property Act 1925.