Placemaking Wales Charter First Year Anniversary

A year on since  the Welsh government and the Design Commission for Wales collaborated with the Placemaking Wales partnership to support the development of high-quality places, there are just short of 100 signatories from the public, private and not for profit sector that share this committment for the people of Wales. As one of those signatories, the society has been actively promoting and protecting paths and open spaces for the benefit of local communities, with reference to the six principles in the Placemaking Wales Charter.

Aell y Bryn village green image: Pentyrch Community Council

In April this year we launched our own campaign Grant a Green, to guide and encourage Welsh and English land owners to voluntarily register land as a town or village green, granting significant protection from development and protecting the open space for recreational use by local people. We were delighted when the Pentyrch Community Council notified us that land know as Ael y Bryn had been designated that level of protection.

During 2020 the society created a manifesto for open spaces in Wales, Charter for Open Spaces in Wales and has sought to influence government, local authorities and developers to prioritise open spaces and called on communites to get involved with their local planning process and to identify recreational areas that may benefit from formal protection.

The society has also worked with other organisations to fight plans for fencing at Rhos Gelli Gon in Ceredigion and against an ugly communication mast that would have marred the glorious landscape at Pumlumon Common.

Rhos Gelli Gron common, by Peter Foulkes

You can read about how other signatories to this initiative have been working to improve access to quality open spaces for communities in Wales on the Design Commission for Wales website here.