Welsh Government consultation on town and village greens
The Welsh Government issued a consultation on town and village greens on 23 October 2017. It is a highly technical document which deals with the proposed content of regulations which will be required to commence sections 52, 53 and Schedule 6 of the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. The regulations will govern the procedure to enable…
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Newly-registered common at Brockdish, Norfolk
We have congratulated our member, Brockdish Parish Council in south Norfolk, for restoring a lost common to the common-land register. The council showed that an area of land on the south-west side of Common Lane had been wrongly omitted from the common-land register when the adjoining common was registered as CL125 in 1968 under the…
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We welcome Welsh Government’s proposals for greater access rights
We are delighted that the Welsh Government is proposing an increase in public-access opportunities in Wales. The society has responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation, ‘Taking Forward Wales’s Sustainable Management of Natural Resources’. Chapter 4 is about access to the outdoors. We welcome proposals for legal access to coast and cliff and for greater access…
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Appeal against refusal of wind turbines on mid-Wales beauty spot
We have urged the Planning Inspectorate to reject plans for seven wind-turbines in the beautiful countryside around Llandegley, five miles east of Llandrindod Wells, Powys. The application, first submitted by Hendy Wind Farm Ltd in 2014, was refused by Powys County Council’s planning committee on Thursday 27 April. The developers have appealed to the Planning…
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Enjoying access to the outdoors in Wales
We have a rare opportunity to influence the laws and practices for public paths and access land in Wales. The Welsh Government is consulting on access to the outdoors in chapter 4 of its document Taking Forward Wales’ Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. The closing date for responses is 30 September, and anyone may respond.…
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We deplore power-lines on Bridgend common
We are disappointed that Welsh ministers have approved an application from Western Power Distribution to site an overhead electricity line, with 16 poles, on a South Wales common. The proposed electricity line will run for more than a mile across Mynydd Llangeinwyr common, the upland between Cwm Garw and Cwm Ogwr Fawr about six miles…
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Circuit of Wales racetrack abandoned: common land saved
We are relieved that, following the refusal of £210 million in backing from the Welsh Government, the Circuit of Wales motor-race track will apparently not now be built on a square mile of common land on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The Open Spaces Society, with the Brecon Beacons Park Society, British…
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Shape of the nation
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, considers the effect of the increasing divergence between English and Welsh laws and practices. The 870-mile Wales Coast Path was the ambitious legacy of Rhodri Morgan, the former first minister of Wales who died in May. Now we can walk ‘the shape of the nation’; the path has brought pleasure…
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We call on Assembly Members to speak up for Wales’s designated landscapes
We have written to Welsh Assembly Members to urge them to speak in the Senedd debate on the review of Wales’s designated landscapes, the National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). Members are to debate the report Future Landscapes, Delivering for Wales, on Tuesday 6 June. The society is concerned that the review…
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New chance to rescue lost commons in Wales
On 5 May 2017, for the first time in 47 years, the public can claim ‘lost’ commons in Wales. The Welsh Government will bring into force legislation which ensures that any commons which failed to make it to final registration under the Commons Registration Act 1965 can now be rescued. We are delighted at this…
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