We present award to Bishop’s Meadow Trust

Our chairman, Tim Crowther, has presented a plaque to the Bishop’s Meadow Trust, Farnham, winner of the society’s first Open Space Award in 2012. The ceremony was held in the new community orchard, created for local schoolchildren to care for and harvest. The event was combined with a children’s tree-planting and the Mayor of Farnham,…

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Glastir scheme recognises public benefits of common land

We are pleased that the Welsh Government, in the proposed new Glastir scheme for agri-environment payments in Wales, recognises the value of common land in providing public benefit. The government proposes, in the new phase, to introduce a single scheme for common land. This will reduce bureaucracy and administration costs and enable the scheme to…

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Spirit of Kinder celebrations, 26 April 2014

The annual Spirit of Kinder event, celebrating Kinder Scout and the 1932 mass trespass, will this year be held in Sheffield on Saturday, April 26. The event, which will also celebrate ten years of the implementation of the CROW Act which gave the right to walk freely in open country, is organised by the Kinder…

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Set-back in fight against Somerset solar farm

Campaigners against a solar ‘farm’ near the famous Jack and Jill Hill at Kilmersdon, Somerset, have suffered a set-back. INRG Solar Ltd has appealed to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government against Mendip District Council’s refusal of planning permission for a solar farm.  The developers want to erect about 25,000 solar panels…

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Wycombe Council rejects Marlow polo-plans a second time

Wycombe District Council has again rejected a planning application for polo practice at Low Grounds Farm, near Marlow in Bucks.  The proposed development would lead to interference with those seeking quiet recreation on the nearby Harleyford Lane. Harleyford Properties Ltd’s application was for change of use of land from agricultural use to polo practice and…

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Secretary of State calls in Cumbrian wind-turbine application

We are delighted that Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has called in the planning application for three wind-turbines near Killington Reservoir in Cumbria (near junction 37 on the M6 motorway) —the gateway to the Lake District and the Western Fells of the Yorkshire Dales. South Lakeland District Council approved…

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Eyesore in South Devon beauty-spot

We have objected to plans by the Harlequin Group to erect a telecommunications mast and associated development in open countryside in south Devon. The application will be determined by South Hams District Council. The 15-metre high mast would be close to the listed Houghton Farm, a mile north of Ringmore, near Bigbury. It would also…

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War against green space

Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes of the unprecedented threats to open spaces.  Our green spaces are being squeezed from both ends.  Government made it harder to register greens and now a supreme court ruling encourages greedy developers to unpick existing registrations. Under the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 land cannot be registered as a…

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Unfair exchange at Beverley Westwood Common

We have objected to plans by the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to swap land on Beverley Westwood Common for a small piece on the northern edge. This is to accommodate a cycle track across the common. The law (section 16 of the Commons Act 2006) requires any exchange of common land to take account…

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