Posts by danbaltic
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…
Read MoreCelebrating upland commons
Thanks to National Lottery players some of our best loved places in the uplands of England will be better looked after. A partnership of 24 organisations, including the society, will empower those who graze common land, the commoners, to manage them better to restore peat, create habitats for birds and butterflies, and improve the quality…
Read MoreWe help to save Surrey common from enclosure
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused consent to the Hon Peter Herbert for fencing and a gate across part of Blackheath Common in Surrey. Blackheath is four miles south-east of Guildford in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Peter Herbert, lord of the manor, wanted to erect…
Read MoreHook Norton learns about common land
‘Common land is frequently misunderstood.’ So declared our commons re-registration officer, Frances Kerner, who gave an illustrated online talk ‘What is Common Land?’ to the Hook Norton Local History Group in north Oxfordshire on 2 February. ‘The word “common” does not mean that the land is commonly owned. Like all land in England and Wales…
Read MoreNo 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…
Read MoreWe slate cavalier treatment of national trail in Dover development
We have objected to the cavalier treatment of the North Downs Way National Trail in the ‘White Cliffs Inland Border Facility’ development north of Dover in Kent. The society has supported the objection from the White Cliffs Group of the Ramblers. The Department for Transport wants to shove the ancient way onto a circuitous route…
Read MoreOur new watchdog in the West Midlands
We have appointed Jack Jennings as our local correspondent for Sutton Coldfield and North Warwickshire. Jack will act for the society in keeping a close watch on paths, commons, greens and open spaces in his area and defending them from adverse change. Jack has lived in Sutton Coldfield for much of his life, and has…
Read MoreJoint 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…
Read MoreStatement on criminal trespass
We have joined with eight other organisations in a letter to the Home Secretary, condemning plans to make trespass a criminal offence. Our letter comes ahead of the publication of the government’s Police Powers and Protections Bill which will enact the Conservative Party’s manifesto commitment to ‘make intentional trespass a criminal offence’. The society has expressed…
Read MoreMake 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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