Latest News

Saving Blackwell parkland

October 9, 2023

A campaign is on to register Darlington’s 18-hectare historic parkland as a town green. Our members Michael and Angela Green of the Parkland Heritage Network tell the story. The historic Blackwell parkland, on the south side of Darlington, is the last of the town’s Georgian pleasure parks, dating back to the 1700s. It first appeared…

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We help win the right result for Hamsterley Green, County Durham

September 28, 2023

We have welcomed a decision which will help protect Hamsterley village green, six miles west of Bishop Auckland in County Durham. Hamsterley Parish Council, the owner of the green, with the owners of Green View, a site to be developed for housing, had applied to the environment secretary for permission to deregister part of the…

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Harrogate Stray to be brought into the fold

January 24, 2023

We have applied to North Yorkshire County Council to register Harrogate Stray as common land. The application, which was made on 19 January 2023, seeks to reverse the decision in November 1966 to exclude the Stray from registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965. Says one of our case officers, Hugh Craddock: ‘The decision in…

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Loss of Longhorsley green refused

October 21, 2022

We have welcomed a decision to retain part of Longhorsley village green, which the parish council wanted to convert to a private driveway. Longhorsley Parish Council wanted to sell off around 54 square metres of Longhorsley green, in this case part of the verge of East Road, in the Northumberland village east of the junction…

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We help to protect Hamsterley green, County Durham

September 23, 2022

We have welcomed a decision which will help protect Hamsterley village green, VG45, six miles west of Bishop Auckland in County Durham. Hamsterley Parish Council had applied to the environment secretary for permission to deregister part of the green, which includes a ribbon of green verge along Saunders Avenue, to facilitate access to a new…

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Our new advocate in Northamptonshire and Ceredigion

September 28, 2021

We have appointed Gerald Davies as our local correspondent for the old Daventry district of Northamptonshire, and five communities in Ceredigion.  It may seem a strange combination but while Gerald lives in Brixworth, about five miles north of Northampton, his heart is in mid Wales. Gerald was raised on a farm in mid Wales and…

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New activist in Kirklees

April 29, 2021

We have appointed Stephen Hill as our local correspondent for Kirklees in West Yorkshire. Stephen will keep a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces. Stephen lives in East Bierley, four miles south-east of Bradford.  He has recently retired from a long career in civil engineering, working on many large infrastructure projects in…

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The new village green at Scorton

New green at Scorton, North Yorkshire

November 17, 2020

We have congratulated Scorton Parish Council on its voluntary registration of land as a new village green. The land is adjacent to Blenheim Close at the southern end of the village which is north-east of Catterick in North Yorkshire.  The new green adjoins the existing Jubilee Green which was registered two years ago.  The parish…

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We help to stop quarry extension on West Yorkshire common

December 17, 2019

Consent has been refused for the enclosure and quarrying of 1.25 hectares of common land near Haworth in the Bradford district of West Yorkshire. The application was made by The Mineral Planning Group, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 for consent for works on common land.  Such consent is needed in addition to…

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Crawlaw Rigg, Lartington High Moor

We help to save Bowes Moor, County Durham, from enclosure

December 2, 2019

We are delighted that consent has been refused for nearly six kilometres of fencing on Bowes Moor common in County Durham1. The application was made under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 for consent for works on common land. Such applications are determined by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State…

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