Ministers 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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We announce winners of 2013 Open Space Award
We were delighted to announce the winners of our prestigious, national Open Space Award for 2013 at the society’s AGM in Birmingham on Tuesday (16 July). The winning entry was from the Grange Area Trust for its campaign to save Widmer Fields at Widmer End and Hazlemere in Bucks. The fields have been threatened many…
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Appeal Court rules that village-greens law complies with human-rights law
We are pleased that the Court of Appeal has confirmed that the law for registering land as a town or village green complies with human rights legislation. The test case concerned land at West Beach, Newhaven, in East Sussex, where Newhaven Town Council has fought two legal challenges to its application to register the land…
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Tannen Land, Strete, is now a green
We are delighted that our member Richard Hacon and other local people have succeeded in registering Tannen Land, at Strete in south Devon, as a village green. Devon County Council approved the registration of the two-acre site last month. With advice from the society, Richard obtained evidence of use from local people and submitted this…
Read MoreThree projects short-listed for national Open Space Award
Three community-based projects, in Bucks, Newcastle upon Tyne and Surrey, have been short-listed for the Open Spaces Society’sprestigious Open Space Award. The Grange Area Trust has saved Widmer Fields at Widmer End, Hazlemere, near High Wycombe in Bucks from development. The trust, which was established with the aim of conserving the 16-hectare site as a…
Read More‘Greenest government ever’ stamps on village greens
The self-styled ‘greenest government ever’ has passed a law which will prevent communities from claiming their local open spaces as village greens and thus saving them from development. Yesterday (25 April) the Growth and Infrastructure Act received royal assent, banning applications to register land as a green in England if it has been identified for…
Read MoreThe Growth and Infrastructure Act – the effect on greens
On 25 April the Growth and Infrastructure Bill received royal assent and is now the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013. Despite all our efforts, the provisions relating to town and village greens were not amended. The Bill was guillotined when it returned to the House of Commons and MPs did not even get the opportunity to…
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Celebrating the spirit of Kinder
On Saturday 27 April the first Spirit of Kinder Day will be held, at New Mills Town Hall in Derbyshire, from 2.30pm. The event is to celebrate the massive contribution to the access movement of the brave trespassers on Kinder Scout, on 24 April 1932. Five of the trespassers were imprisoned. The speakers at the…
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The greens law has changed
The Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 has now received royal assent. This means that, in England, it is no longer possible to apply to register land as a village green if it has been earmarked for development. However applications which have already been submitted will be processed. Before applying to register land as a green…
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