We fight Clyne Common swap at public inquiry
We object to the proposed, unfair land swap on Clyne Common, Swansea, and will give evidence to a public inquiry which opens on Tuesday (6 August)[1]. The society joins the Gower Society and many other objectors in arguing that the Duke of Beaufort’s Somerset Trust land to be taken for housing is far superior to…
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Open Spaces Society to intervene in supreme court in Dartmoor backpack-camping case
We are delighted to have been granted permission to intervene in the Dartmoor backpack-camping case. The society intervened in support of the Dartmoor National Park Authority in the Court of Appeal and was relieved when the court ruled that the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 gave the public the right to camp on nearly all the Dartmoor…
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Land restored as common at Lower Banns, Cornwall
We welcome Cornwall Council’s decision to grant an application to register as common 0.26 hectares of woodland at Lower Banns, Mount Hawke, two miles south of St Agnes in Cornwall. The land comprises two parcels of land. One is situated on the north side of Banns Road and the other immediately opposite on the south…
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Land restored as common on Dartmoor
We welcome the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to grant the society’s two applications to register as common three parcels of rough grassland near Blackdown Common, Mary Tavy, in the Dartmoor National Park. Two of the parcels are adjacent to each other, east and south of Willsworthy car park. Together, these amount to about 33 hectares. The…
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Land at Nesfield, North Yorkshire, restored as common
We have welcomed the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to grant the society’s application to register as common approximately one third of a hectare of land in the village of Nesfield in North Yorkshire (just over two miles north-west of Ilkley). The land comprises two pieces of grassland separated by a path which leads from Gill Lane…
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Land at Garrow Lane, Mullion, registered as common
We have welcomed the decision of Cornwall Council to grant our application to register as common approximately 0.63 hectares of land. The strip of mixed vegetation is situated on Garrow Lane, just south of Mullion. In 1968, an application was made to register the land as common land but was subject to an objection. The…
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Seven-year fight saves Blackbushe aerodrome as common land
After a seven-year saga, Blackbushe aerodrome is to stay as part of Yateley Common. That is the final pronouncement of an inspector who has determined the application of Blackbushe Airport Ltd (BAL), made in November 2016, to remove nearly half a square kilometre of airfield from the Hampshire register of common land. We celebrate the…
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We rescue part of ancient Knighton Heath, Dorset
We have welcomed a decision to see off a threat to Knighton Heath in Dorset. In 1957, parts of Winfrith and Knighton Heaths were compulsorily acquired by the government for use as an atomic energy establishment. A small part (one third of a hectare) of Knighton Heath, south of Gibraltar Cottage and not required for…
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Toughening up
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes of the need to get tough in these times of austerity. In September I spoke to the Gower Society, as part of its 75th anniversary celebrations. The society played an important role in securing Gower as the first area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) in 1956. And on its…
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Amenity groups deplore destruction of New Road Common, Kendal
The Open Spaces Society and Friends of the Lake District have deplored the decision of a planning inspector to allow flood-defence works on New Road Common in the heart of Kendal in Cumbria (now Westmorland and Furness). The application, made by the Environment Agency, followed hard on the heels of a damaging application for neighbouring…
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