EU protection for Welsh commons
At the last minute before Brexit was completed the Welsh Government followed the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in applying environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations to common land. This means that if a development proposal affecting a Welsh common is likely to have a significant effect on the environment, it must be assessed…
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No Convenience for Knowle Green
The high court has quashed an order stopping up public access to highway land at Knowle Green in the borough of Solihull. The order was made on our application. The land comprises the public conveniences and surrounding land on a traffic island at the junction of Station Road and the High Street in Knowle. The…
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Joint statement on Permitted Development Rights: England
We, the undersigned, express our deep concern about the latest proposals for the expansion of Permitted Development Rights in England. These proposals[1] will lower housing standards and accessible natural green infrastructure provision, extinguish local democracy, and end public participation. Communities and their local councils have simply lost control of many of the forms of development…
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Make new greens for London
We have called for developers and landowners in London to dedicate open spaces as town greens, to protect them in perpetuity and to give local people rights of recreation there. The society has responded to the London Mayor’s consultation on the Public London Charter, which sets out the rights and responsibilities for users, owners and…
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We back Vision for Planning 2021 launch
Our case office, Nicola Hodgson, has helped to craft this Vision for Planning document which was launched at an event on 14 January attended by the housing minister, Chris Pincher. Eighteen organisations representing housing, planning, transport, the environment, heritage and public health, came together to promote an alternative vision to the government’s Planning for the…
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Our last-minute bid to rescue lost commons
We have made 78 applications to rescue lost commons in England’s seven pioneer areas[1] before the deadline of 31 December 2020. The applications are to register these precious spaces as common land. If successful, they will give the public the right to walk, and in some cases to ride, on the land and will protect…
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We call for a new fee for common-land swaps
We have written to the Welsh Government’s Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths MS, asking her to introduce a fee for applicants who want to swap areas of common land. The process is ruled by section 16 of the Commons Act 2006. We point out that section 16 requires that, in all…
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New green at Scorton, North Yorkshire
We have congratulated Scorton Parish Council on its voluntary registration of land as a new village green. The land is adjacent to Blenheim Close at the southern end of the village which is north-east of Catterick in North Yorkshire. The new green adjoins the existing Jubilee Green which was registered two years ago. The parish…
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Protecting Wales’s local spaces through good design and community involvement
We have signed the Placemaking Wales Charter, pledging to support its objectives. These include a commitment to support the creation of high-quality places across Wales for the benefit of communities. The charter has been developed by the Welsh government and the Design Commission for Wales in collaboration with the Placemaking Wales partnership. It has more…
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We win new green and new path for Witney
We have won a new town green and public footpath for the people of Witney in west Oxfordshire. These public amenities are on land at Coral Springs, between Thorney Leys and the A40, which four years ago was developed by Richmond Care Villages (RCV). In building an estate of retirement homes RCV illegally blocked a…
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