Closure of Waterfoot path
An inspector acting for the environment secretary has ruled that Rawtenstall public footpath number 237 should be closed, to enable Lancashire County Council to build a new Waterfoot Primary School. There were nine objections, from the Open Spaces Society, Rossendale Ramblers and others, to Lancashire County Council’s plan to stop up the path, and a…
Read MoreBodmin Moor saved from monstrous turbines
We are delighted that Cornwall Council’s planning committee has rejected the application for 20 wind turbines at Davidstow Wood, adjoining Bodmin Moor, at its meeting on 22 July. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘We opposed the application because of the disastrous effect these monstrous turbines and their associated development would have on the beautiful,…
Read MorePlans for Picket Mead Common rejected
Swansea Council’s South West Area Planning Committee has rejected an application from Carrington Moore Estates, in which the former Welsh rugby captain Andy Moore has an interest, which threatened Picket Mead Common at Newton.(2) The planning application was for five detached dwellings and associated works at Picket Mead House, Murton Lane. The officers recommended approval…
Read MoreAbolition of the Commons Commissioners: our response
The Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, has announced that she intends to abolish the Commons Commissioners (22 July). We are sad to see the passing of the Commons Commissioners, who played an important role in determining the common-land maps of today, a band of erudite lawyers who travelled the length and breadth of England and Wales…
Read MorePublic inquiry opens into mountain-top wind factory
‘The unique landscape of Mynydd y Gwair should be treasured not trashed.’ So says the Open Spaces Society(1) as the public inquiry opens into RWE Npower Renewables’ application to build 19 wind turbines on the lovely mountain top of Mynydd y Gwair, eight miles north of Swansea. The inquiry started on Tuesday 20 July. We…
Read MoreDismay at new tennis-courts on common land
Three new tennis-courts and other works have been permitted on Therfield Heath Common in Hertfordshire. The Conservators of Therfield Heath, on behalf of Royston Tennis Club, sought consent from the Planning Inspectorate, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, for three new and three replacement tennis-courts, lighting columns, a log-cabin clubhouse and mesh fencing…
Read MoreDon’t cut the countryside!
England’s conservation organisations have joined forces to paint a grim picture of a countryside starved of money by budget cuts. On the 30th anniversary of the Wildlife and Countryside Link, of which the Open Spaces Society is a member, its members have issued an unprecedented warning about what the future would hold should the Government…
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Governments should recognise the ‘secret gems’—our common land
‘The governments in England and Wales should recognise that common land matters.’ So declared Paul Clayden, our vice-president, who chaired our annual general meeting on 6 July. ‘Commons are the secret gems in our landscape, ancient places which have remained largely unchanged through history. We are dismayed that the Westminster government is so dilatory about…
Read MoreBelvoir wind turbines rejected
Plans for eight wind-turbines at Palmers Hollow, Bottesford, Leicestershire, have been rejected by a government inspector. The developer, Ridgewind, appealed because Melton Borough Council failed to determine the planning application within the statutory period, and the case was heard by inspector Chris Frost at an 11-day public inquiry. We objected to the application, along with…
Read MoreGreens review rejected by experts’ gathering
The national seminar on common land and town and village greens on 1 July, at the University of Gloucester, rejected the notion of a wholesale review of the laws for the registration of new greens. Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, proposed the motion This seminar believes that little change is needed…
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