Common-land champions welcome Natural England’s new focus on commons
The Foundation for Common Land and the Open Spaces Society have welcomed the news that Natural England has created a new post of Principal Specialist on Commons with effect from 1 April. The new role will ensure that common land is given a higher profile within Natural England and will bring together the multi interests…
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We present award to Bishop’s Meadow Trust
Our chairman, Tim Crowther, has presented a plaque to the Bishop’s Meadow Trust, Farnham, winner of the society’s first Open Space Award in 2012. The ceremony was held in the new community orchard, created for local schoolchildren to care for and harvest. The event was combined with a children’s tree-planting and the Mayor of Farnham,…
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Spirit of Kinder celebrations, 26 April 2014
The annual Spirit of Kinder event, celebrating Kinder Scout and the 1932 mass trespass, will this year be held in Sheffield on Saturday, April 26. The event, which will also celebrate ten years of the implementation of the CROW Act which gave the right to walk freely in open country, is organised by the Kinder…
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Whitby village green’s fate to be decided by Supreme Court
The application to register Helredale playing fields as a village green will be heard in the Supreme Court on Wednesday 2 April. The case could last for two days. We have assisted members of Helredale Neighbourhood Council (HNC) in Whitby, North Yorkshire, with their case. A member of the HNC committee, Mrs Christine Barkas, had…
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Wycombe Council rejects Marlow polo-plans a second time
Wycombe District Council has again rejected a planning application for polo practice at Low Grounds Farm, near Marlow in Bucks. The proposed development would lead to interference with those seeking quiet recreation on the nearby Harleyford Lane. Harleyford Properties Ltd’s application was for change of use of land from agricultural use to polo practice and…
Read MoreSecretary of State calls in Cumbrian wind-turbine application
We are delighted that Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has called in the planning application for three wind-turbines near Killington Reservoir in Cumbria (near junction 37 on the M6 motorway) —the gateway to the Lake District and the Western Fells of the Yorkshire Dales. South Lakeland District Council approved…
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Eyesore in South Devon beauty-spot
We have objected to plans by the Harlequin Group to erect a telecommunications mast and associated development in open countryside in south Devon. The application will be determined by South Hams District Council. The 15-metre high mast would be close to the listed Houghton Farm, a mile north of Ringmore, near Bigbury. It would also…
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War against green space
Our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, writes of the unprecedented threats to open spaces. Our green spaces are being squeezed from both ends. Government made it harder to register greens and now a supreme court ruling encourages greedy developers to unpick existing registrations. Under the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013 land cannot be registered as a…
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Our new activist for Wealden District, East Sussex
We have appointed Mr Brendan Clegg as our local correspondent for Wealden District in East Sussex. Brendan will be the society’s eyes and ears, keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces in the district and intervening as necessary. Says Brendan: ‘I am very pleased to be appointed as local correspondent for…
Read MoreNew Planning Practice Guidelines published
In a written statement on 6 March, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Planning, Nick Boles, announced the publication of the Coalition Government’s updated Planning Practice Guidelines. In his statement, Mr Boles refers to the government’s commitment to ensuring that countryside and environmental protections continue to be safeguarded and that power is devolved, not…
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