Latest News

Land restored as common at Lower Banns, Cornwall 

April 30, 2024

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 at Nesfield, North Yorkshire, restored as common 

January 16, 2024

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

December 21, 2023

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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We slate government for lack of action on public access

July 11, 2023

‘The Open Spaces Society is often critical of the government’s approach to open access opportunities.’  So said our chairman, Phil Wadey, in his keynote speech our AGM on 6 July. He continued: ‘Back in January, the government announced an environmental improvement plan for England which aspired to having every household no more than “a 15-minutes’…

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This photo looks across Gooseholme Common, to the area where the public will be separated from the river by a flood-defence wall, and most of the grass will be taken by the hardstanding for the pumping station. Photo: Open Spaces Society

Amenity groups slate flood scheme on Kendal’s common land

March 21, 2023

With the Friends of the Lake District we have slated the decision of a planning inspector to allow flood-defence works on Gooseholme Common in the heart of Kendal in Cumbria. The application, made by the Environment Agency, was for permanent flood-defence works including walls, kerbs, floodgates, subterranean culvert works with associated hardstanding, access hatches, and…

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