The search for lost commons
We have launched a search for common land which must be registered and protected. The Commons Registration Act 1965 required all commons to be registered but allowed only three years for this to be done. Some commons which were provisionally registered were subsequently struck off on spurious grounds. Now, it is possible, in the ‘pioneer…
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Conditional welcome to commencement of common-land provisions in Wales
We have welcomed the commencement of further provisions about common land in Wales—but have lamented the Welsh Government’s failure to communicate. The Welsh Ministers have made a commencement order(1) to bring into force provisions in the Commons Act 2006 about freedom of access to information in the commons registers, and about obtaining official copies of…
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Court of Appeal rules against quiet enjoyment of London’s parks
We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal has upheld the use of London parks for major ticket-only entertainments. In its judgment today,(1) the court finds that Haringey borough council acted lawfully in hiring out part of Finsbury Park for the purposes of a major entertainment event, the Wireless Festival, in 2016.(2) The court rejected…
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We fight plan to grab Amble Braid village green for car-park
We have objected to Northumberland County Council’s plan to swap 4,400 square metres (just over one acre) of Amble Braid village green for a similar-sized but inferior area to the south. The society helped local people to register the land as a village green in 2009. Then it was under threat of a supermarket on…
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Rural payments agency must disclose cross-compliance obligation
We are delighted that the information commissioner has forced the rural payments agency to disclose information about subsidy entitlement. The society asked the agency under freedom of information legislation to disclose whether farmland in West Sussex was being claimed for subsidy under the basic payments scheme, and whether it was subject to cross-compliance.(1) The agency…
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Newly-registered common at Brockdish, Norfolk
We have congratulated our member, Brockdish Parish Council in south Norfolk, for restoring a lost common to the common-land register. The council showed that an area of land on the south-west side of Common Lane had been wrongly omitted from the common-land register when the adjoining common was registered as CL125 in 1968 under the…
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Blackbushe Airport must remain part of Yateley Common
We have objected to the application by Blackbushe Airport Ltd to remove the common-land status from the airport on Yateley Common in Hampshire. The post-war history of Yateley common is one of conflict between the peaceful use of the common for recreation and nature conservation, and the retention and expansion of wartime aerodrome facilities. Yateley…
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We welcome Welsh Government’s proposals for greater access rights
We are delighted that the Welsh Government is proposing an increase in public-access opportunities in Wales. The society has responded to the Welsh Government’s consultation, ‘Taking Forward Wales’s Sustainable Management of Natural Resources’. Chapter 4 is about access to the outdoors. We welcome proposals for legal access to coast and cliff and for greater access…
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We oppose development on Cornish common
We have objected to a proposed holiday-development on registered common land near Cardinham, about four miles north-east of Bodmin in Cornwall. The land is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on Bodmin Moor. Other objectors are the Ramblers and Cornwall Council’s own Commons Registration Officer. Dr and Mrs Smirthwaite of Moor Cottage, Cardinham,…
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Appeal against refusal of wind turbines on mid-Wales beauty spot
We have urged the Planning Inspectorate to reject plans for seven wind-turbines in the beautiful countryside around Llandegley, five miles east of Llandrindod Wells, Powys. The application, first submitted by Hendy Wind Farm Ltd in 2014, was refused by Powys County Council’s planning committee on Thursday 27 April. The developers have appealed to the Planning…
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