Latest News

End the scandal of secret paths in Wales

June 1, 2019

Fifty years on from the Countryside Act 1968, which required local authorities to signpost a public path where it leaves a road, many paths still lack signposts. We are calling for an end to this scandal. Join Open Spaces Society and add your voice to our ongoing battle. The society and the Ramblers were responsible…

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PINS Determines Proposals For Deregistration From Bridgend County Borough Council

November 22, 2018

PINS has determined the two proposals made by Bridgend county borough council for deregistration of school sites, at Pencoed School and at Brynmenyn Primary School, both under s.19. We succeeded in objecting to one, and the other was granted without any real objection from us. We objected to both, on the grounds that the council…

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Massive Motorsport Development On Common Land In South Wales

November 1, 2018

We have objected to plans by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council to revive the ill-fated Circuit of Wales motorsport development. The council has applied for renewal of planning permission for the massive racing circuit, hotels, showrooms and other industrial development on common land at Rassau, Ebbw Vale. Circuit of Wales – artist’s impression We fought…

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Appalling Decision To Allow Wind Turbines On Powys Beauty-Spot

October 29, 2018

A Welsh Government minister has approved an application for seven wind-turbines at Llandegley Rocks, near Llandrindod Wells in Powys. The decision overturns the recommendation of an inspector at a public inquiry held in March. The Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, has rejected the report of the inspector, planner Hywel Wyn…

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We fight common-land swap at the Canyons

September 26, 2018

We have objected to an application from Peakman Ltd to remove part of Mynydd Llanhilleth Common from the common-land register. This popular common is near Abertillery in south Wales. As part of its plan to extract aggregates from the nearby quarry, Peakman wants to widen the existing Blaen y Cwm road and create parking bays.…

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Welsh access on hold

July 24, 2018

Last year we responded to a consultation from the Welsh Government, Taking forward Wales’s sustainable management of natural resources. Chapter 4 was about access to the outdoors. We welcomed its proposal for extended access to coast and cliff, riverbanks and lakesides, an all-Wales digital map of access, and the repeal of the 2026 closure of…

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Industrialisation of The Canyons, Torfaen

April 5, 2018

We have objected to an application from Peakman Ltd to develop Mynydd Llanhilleth Common, near Abertillery in Torfaen, south Wales. Peakman wants to build a new haul road, widen the existing Cefn Crib road and erect fencing on the common to enable it to extract aggregates from the nearby quarry.  Because the works affect common…

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Damaging plan for South Wales common withdrawn

March 27, 2018

We are pleased that Western Power Distribution (WPD) has withdrawn its proposal to place 15 electricity poles with an overhead line across Gwaun Cae Gurwen Common three miles north of Pontardawe in Neath Port Talbot. WPD had sought consent from Welsh ministers for works on common land under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006.…

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Welsh Government confirms the importance of designated landscapes

March 27, 2018

On 13 March the Minister for the Environment in the Welsh Government, Hannah Blythyn, confirmed unequivocally ‘that all the existing designated landscapes will be retained and their purpose of conserving and enhancing natural beauty will not be weakened’. This came as a considerable relief to us because over the last few years the future of…

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Powys wind-turbine inquiry imminent

March 7, 2018

On the eve of the public inquiry into Hendy Wind Farm’s appeal against Powys County Council’s refusal of planning permission for seven wind-turbines near Llandegley Rocks, we have renewed our call for rejection of the plans. We are backing the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales and many other organisations and individuals who oppose…

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