Commons deserve the highest protection
We have called for modernising legislation enabling the compulsory purchase of common land, while retaining the existing, vital, safeguard of Parliamentary scrutiny in exceptional cases. Responding to the Law Commission’s consultation on compulsory purchase[1], the society endorses the protection for common land and open space subject to a compulsory purchase order. Existing legislation, in the…
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Call for Gloucestershire councils to promote new greens
We have written to county and district councillors, and town and parish councils throughout Gloucestershire promoting the voluntary registration of open spaces as town and village greens (TVG) to benefit the public. In his letter Chas Townley, the society’s local correspondent for Gloucestershire, says that ‘registration of open space as TVG means that it is…
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Inspector refuses Adwalton-Common development bid
We welcome the government’s refusal to deregister part of Adwalton Common at Drighlington, five miles south-west of Leeds. An application was made to the Planning Inspectorate in April 2024 to remove 178 square metres of land from the register of common land. This is adjacent to West Street. The application was made with the apparent…
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Public-path guillotine set for repeal in Wales
We are delighted that the Welsh Government will introduce provisions before the Senedd to repeal the 2026 cut-off date for public rights of way. Speaking in the Senedd on 3 March [1], Julie James, Counsel General and Minister for Delivery, said that the Government would bring forward amendments to the Legislation (Procedure, Publication and Repeals) (Wales)…
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Don’t trash Swansea’s Kilvey Hill
We have condemned Swansea planners’ recommendation to approve the Skyline’s development on Kilvey Hill. On Tuesday (4 March) the planning committee will decide the fate of this unique area. The development would comprise, among other structures, gondola stations and chairlift infrastructure for 22 cable cars, a restaurant and bar, a vast area of high-speed luge…
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Commons swap at Brow Moor refused
We have welcomed the decision of an inspector to refuse an exchange of common land in Brontë country at Brow Moor, Haworth, Bradford. Dennis Gillson and Son Ltd (Gillsons) applied to deregister 1.25 hectares of common land on Brow Moor, and replace it with 2.7 hectares about 2 kilometres further south. The application was made…
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Secret access uncovered
The Open Spaces Society has welcomed the decision of His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) not to appeal an order of the first-tier tribunal that it must disclose to the public heritage management plans (HMPs) for country estates benefiting from inheritance tax relief. An application was made by Kieran Foster to HMRC for the HMPs…
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Call for new ‘People’s Charter’ on 75th anniversary of revolutionary national parks and access law
Today (16 December 2024), on the 75th anniversary of royal assent of the revolutionary National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, the organisations which collectively promoted that law, call for a new vision from government. Hailed as a People’s Charter, the 1949 act was to enable all citizens, no matter their background, to…
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Fencing refused on Norfolk common
We have welcomed the decision to refuse consent for fencing on Shereford Common in Norfolk. This is a small, five-hectare common south of St Nicholas’ church, Shereford (near Fakenham), and largely sandwiched between a country lane and the River Wensum. In August 2023, the Raynham estate, owned by Charles Townshend, sought the consent of the Defra…
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Parish council sets the record straight for North Yorkshire village green
Azerley Parish Council has persuaded North Yorkshire County Council correctly to record Bogs and Hodgson Top, at Winksley, five miles west of Ripon, as a village green rather than a common. The land lies to the north of the road from Winksley village to Winksley Bridge, between the River Laver and the road. In 1969,…
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