Welsh ministers refuse private works on Aberdovey Common
We are delighted that the Welsh ministers have refused consent to Mr J T Dudley to build a garage and boat store with ancillary development on Aberdovey Common in the Snowdonia National Park. Although the national park authority approved the development in January, Mr Dudley needed the consent of the Welsh ministers for works on…
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We’re prepared for the fight to save the path to Morfa Beach
We have taken the next step in our campaign to save a vital public path to Morfa Beach near Margam on the South Wales coast. We have submitted our evidence to the forthcoming public inquiry into Neath Port Talbot’s Council’s plan to close the popular Longlands Lane, footpath 92, and to move a nearby path,…
Read MoreDevelopment approved on Llanberis common
We are dismayed that Gwynedd Council’s planning committee has yesterday (2 September) approved a pump-storage power-station on common land at Glyn Rhonwy quarry above Llanberis, on the edge of the Snowdonia National Park. In objecting, we called on Gwynedd Council to ensure the developer, The Quarry Battery Co Ltd from London, was aware that works…
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Equestrians recognised as vulnerable road-users by Welsh Government
We welcome the inclusion of equestrians among vulnerable road-users in the Welsh Government’s recently-released Road Safety Framework for Wales, which sets out its approach to road safety until 2020.* The Welsh Government’s decision to put horses alongside pedestrians and cyclists follows lobbying led by the British Horse Society along with Open Spaces Society members. It…
Read MoreMinister rules that ‘Circuit of Wales’ development will not be called in
We are distressed that Carl Sargeant, the Minister for Housing and Regeneration in the Welsh Government, has ruled that the application for the ‘Circuit of Wales’ motor-racing centre will not be called in, but left for Blaenau Gwent Council to determine as it sees fit. The council has already granted outline consent to the Heads…
Read MorePicket Mead Common to be dug up
We are disappointed that the Welsh ministers have agreed that Carrington Moore Estates can dig up Picket Mead Common at Newton, Swansea, in connection with planning permission for adjoining development. Carrington Moore Estates, in which the former Welsh rugby captain Andy Moore has an interest, want to bury underground services (electricity, gas, water, telecoms and…
Read MoreEnvironment body’s u-turn on Circuit of Wales development
Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the Welsh Government’s environmental advisory body, has done a u-turn on the ‘Circuit of Wales’ motor-racing centre at Ebbw Vale. NRW is no longer asking the government to call in the application which was granted outline consent by Blaenau Gwent Council last month. The development is on common land and abuts…
Read MoreMinisters are considering call-in for ‘Circuit of Wales’ development
The Welsh Government has issued a direction to prevent Blaenau Gwent Council from giving planning permission to the ‘Circuit of Wales’ motor-racing centre, while ministers decide whether to call the matter in. The council granted outline consent to the Heads of the Valleys Development Company last month. We were among the objectors who wrote to…
Read MoreGood outcome for Kingsmoor Common, Kilgetty
We are delighted that the Welsh Government has rejected an application from Pembrokeshire County Council to extinguish the common rights on 3.78 acres of Kingsmoor Common, Kilgetty.(1) The common is owned by the council. The council applied, under the Dyfed Act 1987, to remove the common rights from 1.89 acres to build a new retail…
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Four-mile fence to remain on common land in national park
We are dismayed that the Welsh Government has allowed the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority to retain a four-mile fence across open country in the heart of the national park. The fence was erected on common land as an emergency measure during the foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001 and it should have been removed by 2006.…
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