Access bodies launch Lancashire project to rescue lost commons
The Open Spaces Society and the British Horse Society have launched a joint project to rescue thousands of acres of lost common land and record them for public use. We are funding Steve Byrne to research land in the Lancashire area that was omitted from the commons registers in the late 1960s and early 1970s…
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Unlawful fence across Brecon Beacons commons must go
The Welsh Government has refused retrospective consent for a four-and-a-half-mile-long fence across common land in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The fence runs from near Pontsticill Reservoir in the south, crossing the hillside via Upper Neuadd Reservoir, passing just to the east of the famous summits of Pen y Fan and Cribyn and then cutting…
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Welsh government rejects damaging fencing on Cwmllynfell common land
The Welsh Government has rejected an application from Neath Port Talbot Council for fencing on common land adjacent to Bryn Road, Cwmllynfell, ten miles north of Neath. The council wanted to erect 1,223 metres of stock-proof fencing, with gates and cattle-grids, along the edge of Penlle’rfedwen and Mynydd Uchaf Common to prevent livestock straying into…
Read MoreGovernment’s ‘red-tape challenge’ focuses on environment
Please respond to the government’s red-tape challenge which, until 21 September, focuses on the environment. You can comment here . Government is consulting on the abolition of regulations which crucially affect our work on open spaces and paths, such as those relating to commons, open access, public rights of way, national parks and areas of outstanding…
Read MoreThreat to Leicestershire common
We have objected to a proposed development which would encroach on common land at Great Bowden, one mile north of Market Harborough in Leicestershire. The proposed development, by Mulberry Land Planning and Developments Ltd, is for housing on land at Fernie Hunt Stables, Nether Green, Great Bowden. One of the proposed gardens is on registered…
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Ellonby Common saved from damaging development
We are relieved about the rejection of a development which would have damaged Ellonby Common, five miles north-west of Penrith in Cumbria. The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has rejected an appeal from Mr J Wilson for a bungalow in a field next to Gill Forge, Ellonby. The site adjoins the common…
Read MoreConsent for private works on Pembrokeshire common
The Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development has approved an application for an extension to a property on common land in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The society objected to the application for works on Cyffredin Common, under section 194 of the Law of Property Act 1925, from Mr G Price of New House, Cyffredin,…
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We fight wind turbines in the beautiful Waveney Valley
We have objected to the appeal, by Stamford Renewables Ltd, against Waveney District Council’s refusal of planning permission for wind turbines and associated paraphernalia at Laurels Farm, Barsham, near Beccles in Suffolk. The society has argued that the development would result in the widening and destruction of the ancient Clarke’s Lane which follows a narrow,…
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Open Spaces Society congratulates ‘pioneering’ commoners’ council
‘The Dartmoor Commoners’ Council has been a pioneer for commons management.’ So says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society on the 25th anniversary of the first meeting of the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council on 18 August 1986. The council was set up following implementation of the Dartmoor Commons Act 1985 which, uniquely, also…
Read MoreGo-ahead for works on Layters Green Common
The environment secretary has given the go-ahead to Yeoman Homes Limited for works on Layters Green Common, Chalfont St Peter, Bucks. The consent is for two temporary trenches for the replacement of mains water and mains electricity, and installation of mains drainage and gas in connection with development of an adjoining property. The society, Chalfont…
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