Two beauty-spot windfarms scrapped

Community Windpower has scrapped its controversial windfarms in beauty-spots at Davidstow in Cornwall and Claughton Moor in Lancashire.  The society had objected to both because of their adverse effect on fine landscapes and open country, and people’s enjoyment of them.  Both were in designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Community Windpower, in its press release,…

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Deregulation Bill will help to get lost paths on the map

The Deregulation Bill, which is due for second reading in the House of Commons on Monday 3 February, will help to speed up claims for historic rights of way in England. The bill follows the recommendations in Stepping Forward, the report produced in 2010 by Natural England’s stakeholder working group on unrecorded highways. The group…

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We oppose fencing on Bowland common

We have objected to an application from the Yorkshire Burnmoor Graziers to erect fencing on common land, alongside Mewith Lane near Bentham in North Yorkshire. The common is within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The society objects because the fence will enclose the lane which currently crosses open country. The fence…

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Industrial development on South Wales common

We have slated plans by the Heads of the Valley Development Company Ltd to develop common land at Rassau, Blaenau Gwent, ahead of the prospective Circuit of Wales motor-racing development. The company has applied to the Welsh ministers for consent to carry out major works on the common. If the Circuit of Wales development is…

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Disused railway should be village green for Llanmorlais

The community of Llanmorlais, a small village seven miles west of Swansea, could see a strip of disused railway confirmed as their village green after a public inquiry in March. James Matthews, an Open Spaces Society member, has made the application after villagers completed evidence of their uninterrupted use of the land for 20 years.…

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We back coastal access for the Isle of Wight

We have again called on the environment minister to include the Isle of Wight in the coastal-access provisions of Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs consulted on this in July 2012 and then, despite the overwhelming support for the order, resolved not to proceed.  Now it has…

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Horsted Keynes footpath is saved

A popular footpath at Horsted Keynes, four miles north-east of Haywards Heath in West Sussex, has been saved on its existing route. West Sussex County Council backed the landowner, Miss Wykeham-Martin, in her application to move the footpath, number 8/1, which runs across three fields at Lucas Farm to the edge of two of them.…

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We urge Welsh environmental body to champion common land

We have urged Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to champion common land and to oppose government plans to weaken the law protecting village greens.  The society has responded to NRW’s consultation, Planning our Future. We are concerned that nowhere in the document is there a mention of common land and its crucial role in securing a…

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Last chance to save Dorset village green

We are supporting our member the Society for the Protection of Markham and Little Francis at a hearing in the Supreme Court on Wednesday (15 January 2014). The local society will seek to persuade the court to uphold the registration of the village green on the outskirts of Weymouth, Dorset.  This is the last chance…

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