The fight against Dalton sun factory
We have objected to a planning application for a solar farm on open countryside near Dalton- in-Furness, Cumbria. The applicant, New Energy For The World, wants to develop about 30 acres and the scheme will be highly visible from the many well-used public paths in the area. Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘This is…
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We fight Disneyfication of Lake District commons
We have objected to applications to develop common land at White Moss near Grasmere in the Lake District National Park. The Lake District National Park Authority has refused two planning applications from Jim Lowther, brother of the eighth Earl of Lonsdale who is custodian of the family’s estate. The Lowther Estate wants to build a…
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Fence permitted on limestone beauty-spot
We are dismayed that the Planning Inspectorate has permitted an application from the Farleton Knott Commoners’ Association for a 550-metre fence along the west side of Puddlemire Lane across Farleton Knott common, in Cumbria, for a period of ten years. This limestone hill is of outstanding natural beauty and interest for its geology and flora…
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We condemn plan to restrict access to justice
We have condemned proposals from the Ministry of Justice to increase the cost to members of the public who apply to the magistrates’ court in civil cases. The proposal is to increase the costs by 10 per cent*. The society says that this will hit those people who are defending the public interest in public…
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We slate Derbyshire’s plan to ‘shoot itself in the foot’
We have slated Derbyshire County Council’s plans to cut its budget for public rights of way and reduce the staff, significantly lengthening the time it takes to deal with path problems. We say the council is shooting itself in the foot. We have responded to the council’s questionnaire in which the council proposes severely to…
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Commons registration: a half century
Fifty years ago today, 5 August 1965, the Commons Registration Act became law. The Open Spaces Society had pressed for the registration of commons for decades, and it was one of the principal recommendations of the Royal Commission on Common Land in 1958. During the passage of the Commons Registration Bill the society secured a…
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We join forces with the High Wycombe Society for a celebratory Big Picnic on Wycombe Rye
OSS and the High Wycombe Society are jointly celebrating an important anniversary with a Big Picnic on Wycombe Rye on Sunday 9 August. It is 50 years since the Rye Protection Society, with help from the Open Spaces Society, saved The Rye from a road scheme. The event is free and open to all, from…
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Championing Chiltern commons
As the Chilterns Commons Project comes to an end, project officer Rachel Sanderson reflects on its achievements. In the south-east of England, a large number of small commons provide important recreational facilities for people in urban and semi-urban communities. Over the last four years, the Chilterns Commons Project, run by the Chilterns Conservation Board, has…
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Building on Anglesey common shows need for new local-authority duty on commons
We are dismayed that Anglesey County Council has refused to take enforcement action against unlawful works on registered common land at Glanrafon, Llangoed. In March this year we wrote to Mrs Dilys Lowe, the owner of common land at Glandwr Cottage, Glarafon, to ask her to stop building a bungalow on the common. Mrs Lowe…
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Lord Eversley’s message to members, 19 July 1915
One hundred years ago, on 19 July 1915 the fiftieth anniversary of the society’s foundation, our president and chairman Lord Eversley gave an address to the members. It is published in a 16-page booklet marked, for some reason, ‘confidential’. Here is a summary of what he said. On the 19th of July, 1865, fifty years ago…
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