Land swap on Cornish common is dropped
Mr Robert Weedon has withdrawn his plan to swap common land at Pendarves Woods Common, a mile south-west of Camborne in Cornwall. We had objected. Works had been constructed unlawfully on the common over a period since 2008. In March, Mr Weedon applied to the Secretary of State for Environment to swap the area of common…
Read MoreNorth York Moors National Park authority approves York Potash application
We are dismayed that the North York Moors National Park Authority has approved the York Potash application. The decision was made at a special planning meeting on 30 June, and was extremely close: eight votes to seven. We backed the Campaign for National Parks (CNP) in fighting the project. Ruth Bradshaw, CNP’s policy and campaigns…
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Land at Breaky Bottom open to the public
After a long battle by Action for Access and the Open Spaces Society, walkers can now use some of the Access Land (1) at Breaky Bottom, near Lewes. A new stile has been erected. The grid reference is TQ404054 (2). Our local correspondent Chris Smith says “The new access land is a great place to…
Read MoreWind turbines rejected on Rooley Moor, Rochdale
Rochdale Borough Council has refused planning permission to Coronation Power Ltd for 12 wind turbines and other infrastructure on Rooley Moor. The council rejected the application on a number of grounds. It considered that the development would be inappropriate in the green belt and it would have a detrimental impact on the wild and tranquil…
Read MoreWe support fight against massive potash mine in North York Moors National Park
The Open Spaces Society has joined with 28 other environment and amenity organisations, including the Campaign for National Parks (CNP), in strongly urging the North Yorks Moors National Park Authority to refuse an application for a massive potash mine inside the North York Moors National Park. CNP, with our support, has sent the following open…
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Good news for fighters against Reeves Hill wind turbines
We are delighted that the planning permission has expired for four wind-turbines on the prominent Herefordshire summit of Reeves Hill, close to the Powys border. The landowner, Sir Simon Gourlay made a start to the development on the very last day of his permission. Now Herefordshire Council says his last-minute information was not good enough…
Read MoreWe fight enclosure of Stevenage common
We have objected to a plan by Stevenage Borough Council to fence off part of Norton Green Common on the south-west side of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, immediately to the west of the A1(M). The council has applied to the Planning Inspectorate for consent to erect works on common land under section 38 of the Commons…
Read MoreOSS signs up to Access to Justice statement
The UK’s four umbrella conservation groups – Wildife & Countryside Link, Scottish Environment Link, Wales Environment Link and Northern Ireland Environment Link – will present a statement to the Aarhus Convention* on 16 June calling for better access to environmental justice. The Open Spaces Society has been pleased to sign in support of this statement.…
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Fighting on
‘Opinion’ by our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, was published in the summer 2015 issue of Open Space. When David Cameron announced on 8 May that he was forming a government, he boasted of his achievements over the last five years and what he would do in the next five. Not surprisingly there was no mention…
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Shepherd’s Bush tower quashed
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has rejected plans for a tower next to Shepherd’s Bush Common in west London. Dorsett Hospitality International had applied for planning permission to demolish the existing former Walkabout building and replace it with a 16-storey tower. The council decided that the proposed development was ‘unacceptable in the interests…
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