Wealden woodland saved from private car-park plans
Wealden District Council has thrown out plans to build a private, gated car-park on the summit of Crowborough Common in East Sussex. On 31 May nine members of the planning committee voted against Crowborough Beacon Golf Club’s proposals. The Open Spaces Society, Save Our Common and the Ramblers’ High Weald Walkers Group were among the…
Read MoreGive more recognition to Wales’s unique common land
The society is concerned that the Welsh Government’s Green Paper, Sustaining a Living Wales, pays insufficient regard to the nation’s superb common land and landscape, and people’s ability to enjoy it. The society has submitted a robust response to the consultation paper, calling for greater recognition of these important features. Says David Bateman, our spokesman…
Read MorePlanning protection for commons and greens in Wales
In our response to the consultation Planning for Sustainability, we have called on the Welsh Government to give extra protection to commons and village greens during the planning process. We propose a compulsory question on the planning-application form, to ask whether the application will affect any common or village green. If the answer is yes,…
Read MoreWaveney wind-developers back down
Stamford Renewables Ltd has withdrawn its appeal against Waveney District Council’s refusal of planning permission for three wind-turbines and associated paraphernalia in the lovely Waveney valley in Suffolk. The development, at Laurels Farm, Barsham, near Beccles would have been an eyesore in the lovely valley, and destroyed part of High Common on either side of…
Read MoreYeadon Banks green space is safe for ever
We are delighted that the Supreme Court has refused to allow Leeds Group plc to appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling that Yeadon Banks, Leeds, should be registered as a green. This means that the registration of Yeadon Banks is confirmed, and the 2.2-hectare site is safe from development. We backed the applicant for…
Read MoreWest Sussex takes a lead in protecting commons and greens
We have congratulated West Sussex County Council for taking a lead in helping all the planning authorities in its area to take account of registered common land and village greens when considering planning applications. West Sussex has offered all the districts its most up-to-date GIS data layer for commons and greens which would enable the…
Read MoreNew plans for hidden highways
We are pleased that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is today (Monday 14 May) launching a public consultation about plans to make it easier to get England’s official map of public paths up to date. The ‘definitive’ maps of rights of way are lamentably incomplete. There are many public footpaths, bridleways…
Read MoreNatural England announces next phase of coastal access
We are delighted that, in the week when the Wales Coast Path was opened, Natural England has announced that it will start work on access to the next five stretches of England’s coast. These are: Durham, Hartlepool and Sunderland (Seaton Carew to South Bents) Cumbria (Allonby to Whitehaven) Kent (Ramsgate to Folkestone) Norfolk (Weybourne to…
Read MoreWe call for new Wales body to focus on commons, spaces and paths
We have called for the new single environmental body in Wales to focus on common land, open spaces and public paths. The society has responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation paper, Natural Resources Wales. This invites views on the arrangements for establishing and directing a new body for the management of Wales’s natural resources, by…
Read MoreSpotlight on commons
BBC Radio 4 Farming Today is this week shining the spotlight on our common land. In every programme from 30 April to 4 May there is an interview about commons and their role in present-day society. The OSS was featured on Chorleywood Common, Hertfordshire, on Friday 4 May, discussing the parish council’s contentious fencing scheme…
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