Posts by Daniel Cregin
Rights of Way: Restoring the Record
Want to check historic rights on a track but don’t know where to start? Need to find extra evidence before a public inquiry? Worried about your first visit to an archive office? Experienced, but just want to check which Act authorised which activities? Then you need Rights of Way: Restoring the Record, the new research…
Read MoreBrutal turbines of Mynydd y Gwair common
We have objected strongly to a planning application from RWE npower to site 16 wind turbines, with tracks and infrastructure, on Mynydd y Gwair common, a majestic hillside eight miles north of Swansea. There have been a number of turbine applications here in the past to which the society has objected. This is registered common…
Read MoreEssex seafront open space saved for public enjoyment
Essex County Council has registered an open space at Brighton Road, Holland-on-Sea near Clacton-on-Sea as a town green. The application for green status was made by Mrs Sharon Bennett, a member of the society, in 2009 on the grounds that local people had used the land for informal recreation, without asking permission or being stopped,…
Read MoreSouth West commons conference
The biennial conference of the South West Uplands Federation is being held at Exeter Racecourse on Friday 19 October 2012, hosted by the Dartmoor Preservation Association. The conference will focus on the grazed commons of Bodmin, Exmoor and Dartmoor, the day-to-day practicalities of commons management and the implications of CAP reform and other policy changes.…
Read MoreDisappointing fencing decision for Hednesford Hills
We are disappointed that the Secretary of State for Environment has approved an application for fencing on Hednesford Hills Common on the north-east side of Cannock in Staffordshire. We objected to this application, along with the British Horse Society and individuals. Cannock Chase Council applied to erect permanent stockproof fencing around two areas of the…
Read MoreManège would suburbanise South Downs countryside
We have objected to a planning application for a manège at Sparkes Farm next to Ebernoe Common, three miles north of Petworth in West Sussex. The development comes hot on the heels of other planning applications at this site, for a stable complex and barn. The application is in the South Downs National Park and…
Read MoreCommon ground not battleground
Article published on Headline Environment website, On the Agenda, 11 September 2012 Commons are unique and precious places to be treasured by all, says Kate Ashbrook, of the Open Spaces Society, as she welcomes the publication of a revised version of A Common Purpose. Kate Ashbrook writes: Common land has for centuries been a…
Read MoreGovernment’s rural statement underplays vital role of paths and spaces
‘The government should invest in public paths and green spaces to achieve its aim of improving the rural economy,’ says our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook commenting on the government’s Rural Statement published today (12 September). ‘By underplaying the role of these vital assets government misses a massive trick.’ ‘There is a brief mention in the…
Read MoreLambeth Council rejects Sky One TV’s domes on Clapham Common
Lambeth’s planning committee last night (11 September) rejected the application for a domed development on Clapham Common for Sky One TV’s ‘Got to Dance’. The domes were erected before the planning application was even considered by Lambeth Council. The councillors’ rejection was contrary to the officers’ recommendation of approval. The domes, with fencing, portacabins and…
Read MoreGo-ahead for development beside Swansea common
We are disappointed that Carrington Moore Estates, in which the former Welsh rugby captain Andy Moore has an interest, has obtained planning consent for development adjoining Picket Mead Common at Newton, Swansea. The battle has raged over many years, but finally Carrington won its appeal to Welsh Ministers against Swansea Council’s refusal of planning consent. The…
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