Welsh Assembly debates Circuit of Wales
We have sent a briefing to Antoinette Sandbach, shadow Welsh environment minister and Assembly Member for North Wales, who is leading a short debate in the Welsh Assembly on Wednesday 21 January about the controversial Circuit of Wales motorsports development at Rassau in Blaenau Gwent. The debate is called Giving the Circuit of Wales the…
Read MoreWe object to further assault on Nuneaton’s old common
We have objected to further plans from Gladman Developments Ltd to build 262 houses on former common land at Plough Hill Road, Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The land is known as Galley Common and is of historical significance. We have repeatedly objected to applications to build on this site and are dismayed that the developers persist with their…
Read MoreThomas Hardy would breathe a sigh of relief
We are delighted that Kingston Maurward College has withdrawn its plans to build 70 houses on parkland at Thomas Hardy’s hamlet of Lower Bockhampton, Dorset. Hardy was born at nearby Higher Bockhampton in 1840. The society was among hundreds of objectors to the development, including the Ramblers, the Thomas Hardy Society and the Lower Bockhampton…
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Pressure groups fight fencing plan in Lake District’s wilderness
We are backing our member the Friends of the Lake District in fighting a plan by United Utilities to erect fencing on common land in the heart of the Lake District National Park. United Utilities has applied to erect nearly ten kilometres of new fencing at the South Western end of Thirlmere, enclosing 866 hectares…
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New call for Thames Path riverside route
We have objected to a planning application from Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council to create a short footpath along Ray Mead Road, Maidenhead, instead of a riverside route for the Thames Path National Trail. The council has applied to create a footway along Ray Mead Road, extending an existing footpath by about 17 metres with…
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Footpath in Godstone, Surrey, has been saved
A planning inspector has ruled that a footpath at Godstone, Surrey, will not be moved. The footpath, Godstone 140B, runs from Harts Lane north-east to the A22 Eastbourne Road, close to Harts Lane Cottage. The owner of the cottage wished to divert the route so that instead it avoided the cottage and joined Harts Lane…
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We fight solar farm in New Forest National Park
MTS Exbury Solar Ltd has applied to build a solar farm on nine hectares of land east of Lepe Farm, Exbury in the New Forest National Park. We have objected and urged the national park authority to reject the application. We consider that such a development is inappropriate in a national park, which is our…
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Dismay at decision to keep Cornish rail-crossing closed
A public-inquiry inspector has ruled that the footpath across the railway line near Penzance in Cornwall is to remain closed. The society backed its member, the Friends of Long Rock Mexico Crossing (FOLRMC), the Ramblers and other objectors to the proposed closure of the crossing at the Mexico Inn, Long Rock, Penzance. The case was…
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Wycombe Council rejects plans which threatened common and bridleway
Wycombe District Council has rejected a planning application from Bramley Homes which threatened Booker Common and a public bridleway. The application was for two houses on land next to the former Live and Let Live pub at Booker Common, High Wycombe, Bucks. The society was concerned that the development would have an adverse effect on…
Read MoreSpeak up for commons, open spaces and footpaths in East Sussex
The Open Spaces Society is urging everyone who walks, rides or cycles on the commons, open spaces and footpaths of East Sussex to tell East Sussex County Council how important those facilities are to them. The council is conducting a survey of usage of these facilities. You can find it on the consultations page of…
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