We call on local councils to help rescue green spaces
We have urged local councils to be active in rescuing green spaces in their communities. Our case officer, Nicola Hodgson, was addressing the Society of Local Council Clerks’ national conference for practitioners near Derby on 1 March. She spoke on the threats to town and village greens, common land and open spaces, and what local…
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Richard Harland, 1920 – 2013
We remember Richard Harland, our former vice-chairman who died aged 93 last November, and who made a quiet but significant contribution to commons and access. Richard Harland was a Quaker, a pacifist and campaigner, who loved beautiful landscapes and their history, and had a strong belief that people should be free to enjoy the countryside.…
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Fencing on Hunsdon Mead common is approved
The Planning Inspectorate has approved an application from the Herts and North Middlesex Wildlife Trust for fencing on Hunsdon Mead Common in Essex. The trust applied to erect a permanent, 1,000-metre fence along the line of the towpath boundary of the common to prevent disturbance of sheep grazing the common. We objected because the fence…
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Welsh Government’s threat to village greens
We have responded robustly to the Welsh Government’s draft Planning Bill in which it proposes to prohibit the registration of land as a town or village green where it has been identified for development. The government also plans to enable landowners to deposit statements with the registration (unitary) authority, challenging people’s use of the land…
Read MoreWe welcome electronic registers for Welsh commons
We are delighted that the Welsh Minister for Natural Resources, Alun Davies, has pledged to introduce electronic registers for all common land in Wales. He made the announcement on 12 February, undertaking to invest £5 million in the project which will be completed by the end of 2017. There are 175,000 hectares of common land…
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Government’s new attack on beleaguered green spaces
Update: On 28 January, the order was confirmed by both Houses, see below: House of Commons debate House of Lords debate Read the confirmed order here. The government has struck yet another blow at open spaces. On Tuesday 28 January parliamentary committees will be asked to rubber-stamp a set of measures which make it even…
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Court ruling gives green light to developers on open spaces
‘A black ruling for greens’, is how we responded to the judgment* in the Supreme Court yesterday (5 February) which gives a green light to developers who want to build on open spaces. The court ruled that village greens at Curtis Fields at Weymouth in Dorset and Clayton Fields at Kirklees, West Yorkshire, must be…
Read MoreTwo beauty-spot windfarms scrapped
Community Windpower has scrapped its controversial windfarms in beauty-spots at Davidstow in Cornwall and Claughton Moor in Lancashire. The society had objected to both because of their adverse effect on fine landscapes and open country, and people’s enjoyment of them. Both were in designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Community Windpower, in its press release,…
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We oppose fencing on Bowland common
We have objected to an application from the Yorkshire Burnmoor Graziers to erect fencing on common land, alongside Mewith Lane near Bentham in North Yorkshire. The common is within the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The society objects because the fence will enclose the lane which currently crosses open country. The fence…
Read MoreIndustrial development on South Wales common
We have slated plans by the Heads of the Valley Development Company Ltd to develop common land at Rassau, Blaenau Gwent, ahead of the prospective Circuit of Wales motor-racing development. The company has applied to the Welsh ministers for consent to carry out major works on the common. If the Circuit of Wales development is…
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