Chorleywood Common fencing plan withdrawn
We are relieved that Chorleywood Parish Council has withdrawn its application for fencing on the lovely Chorleywood Common in Hertfordshire. The council had applied to the Secretary of State for Environment for consent, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006, to erect 1,152 metres of permanent fencing and 352 metres of temporary fencing, enclosing…
Read MoreWe say no to car park on Suffolk common
We have objected to an application from Wortham & Burgate Parish Council to construct a tarmac car-park on Long Green Common, Wortham in Suffolk. The council has applied for the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment for works on common land, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. The tarmac surface will…
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Fighting fencing on Padworth Common
We have joined the British Horse Society and over 120 other local objectors in opposing plans by West Berkshire Council to fence Padworth Common, west of Mortimer in West Berkshire. The council, which owns the land, wants to graze livestock there to improve the biodiversity and has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for consent for…
Read MoreBraintree Green Common freed from unlawful fence
We are delighted to have helped achieve the prompt removal of the unlawful picket-fence around part of Braintree Green Common at Rayne, one mile west of Braintree in Essex. At the end of September, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs refused retrospective consent for the 1.1-metre-high fence on common land, around…
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Defra drives a bulldozer through village greens law
We have slated the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for driving a bulldozer through the laws for registering land as a new village green. The society has responded to Defra’s consultation on the registration of new town or village greens. At present land can be registered as a green if it has…
Read MoreConsent refused for alien hedge on Herts common
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to Mr James Wright for a conifer hedge on registered common land at the former Old Chequers pub near Flamstead in Hertfordshire. The society and Flamstead Parish Council were among the nine objectors to the application for works on common land, under…
Read MoreBraintree Green Common is not a private garden
We have called for the removal of an unlawful picket-fence around part of Braintree Green Common at Rayne, one mile west of Braintree in Essex. This follows the refusal by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of retrospective consent for the works on common land, under section 38 of the Commons…
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The Open Spaces Society’s views on Defra’s consultation on the registration of new village greens, September 2011
We are deeply concerned about this consultation. We have asked our members for their views and are preparing a detailed response before the closing date of 17 October. In particular, our concerns are as follows. 1. A package The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) appears to be presenting a package of proposals,…
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Access bodies launch Lancashire project to rescue lost commons
The Open Spaces Society and the British Horse Society have launched a joint project to rescue thousands of acres of lost common land and record them for public use. We are funding Steve Byrne to research land in the Lancashire area that was omitted from the commons registers in the late 1960s and early 1970s…
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Unlawful fence across Brecon Beacons commons must go
The Welsh Government has refused retrospective consent for a four-and-a-half-mile-long fence across common land in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The fence runs from near Pontsticill Reservoir in the south, crossing the hillside via Upper Neuadd Reservoir, passing just to the east of the famous summits of Pen y Fan and Cribyn and then cutting…
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