Victory against destructive Somerset solar farm
We are delighted that plans by INRG Solar Ltd, for 25,000 solar panels at Tynings Farm, Kilmersdon, Somerset, have been rejected by a planning inspector. We backed our member, the Jack and Jill Hill Preservation Society in fighting the scheme. The developers appealed against Mendip District Council’s refusal of planning permission and inspector John Wilde…
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Henley council rejects path discrimination
We have congratulated Henley Town Council on refusing to comply with Oxfordshire County Council’s plan to categorise local paths according to their use. Councillors, advised by the society, considered that this could lead to less-well-used paths being relegated so that they become obstructed and overgrown. The county council, the highway authority responsible for Oxfordshire’s public…
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Public hearing for Ealing’s Haven Green
The Friends of Haven Green and the Open Spaces Society are defending Haven Green (which is common land) at a hearing on Thursday 25 September. Ealing Council wants to widen a footway, erect temporary fencing, renew the footways and swap the land occupied by the old bus-layby, which will become common, for other land which…
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Saving our green spaces
If you want to save your open space you need to get involved. Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook tells you how. Communities need to be on their toes if they want to rescue their much-loved spaces from developers. The opportunity to register them as town or village greens has recently diminished in England, and…
Read MoreA blight on Hackney Marshes
We have objected to plans from the London Borough of Hackney to develop part of Hackney Marshes (East) for a car park and (North) for a pavilion with car park. We are backing our member the Hackney Marshes User Group which has for some time been protesting about the proposals. The marshes are registered common land and…
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Gordon Garland, 1921-2013
Gordon Eric Garland, who died last year aged 91, was a long-standing member of the society and an effective, enthusiastic, campaigner for paths and open spaces. Gordon spent his 91 years in Hollingbury Park Avenue, Brighton. He is remembered for his tremendous, generosity and support; someone who unselfishly and tirelessly devoted his time, influence, and…
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Government boosts coastal access and parks
We are delighted at the announcement by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, that the government will put more money into providing access around England’s coast and into producing online maps of publicly-accessible green space. Speaking at the Royal Society for Protection of Birds’ State of Nature conference, Mr Clegg said that the government would…
Read MoreSaltney Ferry open space saved
The North Street Football Pitch at Saltney Ferry, Flintshire, has been saved as an open space for ever more. The space has been protected under the Queen Elizabeth II Fields Challenge, by Fields in Trust. The Open Spaces Society objected to a planning application to develop the site and is delighted that it is now…
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We slate Lancashire County Council for path-closure plans
We are dismayed that Lancashire County Council proposes to close three footpaths which cross land at Helmshore Primary School, Haslingden, having failed last year to move them out of the way. The paths cross the field in the form of a triangle. The council claims the cross-field paths are a risk to security, yet it…
Read MoreWe fight proposed wind turbine in Herefordshire
We have objected to an application for a wind turbine, access track, hard-standing, substation and temporary construction-compound in rural Herefordshire. The planning application has been submitted by g2 Energy Renewable Developments Ltd for a 77-metre-high turbine at Halfridge Farm, Pippins Hill, Acton Beauchamp. Our local correspondent, Peter Newman, has written to Herefordshire Council, the planning…
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