Archive for June 2023
Refused: road across Dunsfold Common, Surrey
We are delighted that a planning inspector has rejected a proposed access-road across Dunsfold Common, 14 kilometres south of Guildford in Surrey. The application for a 5.5-metre-wide road, with 1.5-metre-wide footway and associated works, was made for Sigma Homes Ltd, the prospective developer, by Batcheller Monkhouse, surveyors and town planners. The proposed road was to…
Read MoreLand at Hatfield House restored as common
We are celebrating the decision of Hertfordshire County Council, the commons registration authority, to grant the society’s application to register as common land 1.8 hectares on the south side of Wildhill Road, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The land comprises a mixture of grass, shrub, and trees. It is just under six kilometres south-east of Hatfield House which…
Read MoreOur new advocate in the north west
We have appointed Ken Sharp as our local correspondent for West Lancashire and parts of Merseyside. Ken will be our watchdog here, keeping a close eye on paths, commons, greens, and open spaces. He will cover West Lancashire District, Knowsley, Liverpool City, St Helen’s Borough, and Sefton Metropolitan Borough. Following a 38-year career in information…
Read MoreA plum common
A fascinating common in Pembrokeshire is now receiving the care and attention it deserves. Plumstone Rock is the most prominent feature of the 145-hectare Plumstone Mountain common including the adjoining Dudwell Mountain, 1.5 kilometres south of Hayscastle Cross in Pembrokeshire. The outcrop commands fine views, from the Preseli Mountains to the Bristol Channel. The land…
Read MorePlanning for commons in the north
Open Spaces Society case officer Hugh Craddock and Friends of the Lake District planning officer Lorayne Wall MRTPI, on 7 June addressed members of the Royal Town Planning Institute on planning for commons. At the Institute’s rural update for north of England, members heard about ‘Planning and Common Land’, raising awareness of how and why…
Read MoreMaurice Philpot remembered
Maurice William Philpot was a good friend of the society, a member of our executive committee from 1982 to 1985, who gave the society a right of estovers on a Norfolk common. His friend of 20 years, Phyllis Mills pays tribute to him. Maurice was born on 28 June 1942 and grew up in a…
Read MoreBackword from Westminster
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, reports on the latest backsliding from the Westminster government. There is a north-country phrase ‘to give backword’. In a devastating move, environment secretary Thérèse Coffey has done just that, reversing last year’s decision by environment minister Richard Benyon to repeal the 2026 deadline for recording lost paths in England. Instead,…
Read MoreCommon land restored: ‘The Bunny Hill’ in Cornwall
We are delighted by the planning inspectorate’s decision to grant the society’s application to register as common land 3.86 hectares of land at The Bunny Hill and part of Fentongoose Common. The land is situated approximately four kilometres south-west of Truro in Cornwall, and north-west of Carrine Common. The land comprises trees interspersed with scrub…
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