We fight plan to extend life of wind turbines on Cumbrian commons
We have objected to plans by Zephyr Investments Ltd to extend the life of the 12 wind turbines on common land at Kirkby Moor and High Lowick, Cumbria, for a further eight years and seven months, to 31 March 2027. In 2015, South Lakeland District Council refused permission for the replacement of the existing turbines…
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We welcome greenspace plan for Kendal’s New Road common
STOP PRESS 31 AUGUST 2017: We are pleased to report that on 30 August the South Lakeland District Council’s cabinet unanimously approved the scheme for the restoration of New Road Common. We are delighted that South Lakeland District Council in Cumbria proposes to reinstate Kendal’s New Road common as a green space. For many years this…
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We back call for truly coastal access at Lee Abbey beauty-spot
The society is backing the Ramblers, the Exmoor Society and the Exmoor Local Access Forum in calling on Natural England (NE) to create a truly coastal path on the north Devon coast at Lee Abbey, a mile and a half west of Lynton. The Exmoor National Park Authority also wants NE to re-examine the proposed…
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Commons conference in Utrecht
In July our general secretary, Kate Ashbrook, went to the biennial conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons (IASC) in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Here she describes some of her experiences. This was the 16th biennial, global conference of the IASC, and my fifth. It was organised by the University of…
Read MoreWe help to save part of Northumberland common
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has refused to grant an application under section 19 of the Commons Act 2006, to deregister a small area of land on Allendale Common, at Spartylea in Northumberland. The land was adjacent to a dwelling at Clayhole, which had been owned by the applicant, Mr…
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Anger at decision to allow seizure of common land at Haven Green, Ealing
The Open Spaces Society and the Friends of Haven Green are furious that the Environment Secretary has approved a retrospective application from Ealing Council to use part of Haven Green common as a cycle hub, and to deregister 188 square metres of the common. The decision follows a four-day public inquiry held in March and…
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We welcome designation of Lake District as World Heritage Site
As Britain’s leading pressure-group for open spaces and common land, we welcome the announcement that the Lake District National Park will be added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The society’s chairman, Graham Bathe(1), said: ‘This announcement brings the fullest recognition that the Lake District is a cultural landscape of global importance, forged by the interplay…
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London Council in ‘unprecedented’ move to exploit open space
A London Council has made an ‘unprecedented’ move to make money out of holding events on a flagship open space. Lambeth Council’s planning committee on Tuesday evening (4 July) gave blanket approval to a 110-day schedule of music festivals and other events on the 35-hectare half of Clapham Common it owns. The Town and Country…
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We criticise new Ordnance Survey map of greenspaces
As Britain’s leading pressure-group for open spaces, we say that today’s launch of a new ‘comprehensive map of greenspaces’(1) fails to deliver the Government’s commitment to map ‘all open-access green space’. The Ordnance Survey has announced the publication of a database of greenspaces in Great Britain. The database is offered via a mapping tool online,…
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We deplore power-lines on Bridgend common
We are disappointed that Welsh ministers have approved an application from Western Power Distribution to site an overhead electricity line, with 16 poles, on a South Wales common. The proposed electricity line will run for more than a mile across Mynydd Llangeinwyr common, the upland between Cwm Garw and Cwm Ogwr Fawr about six miles…
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