Welsh minister rejects wind turbine on common
The Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing has refused consent to Awel Aman Tawe to erect a wind turbine, hard standing and access tracks on common land in south Wales. The threatened common is Cefn Gwrhyd Common in the community of Cwmllynfell in Neath Port Talbot. Although Awel Aman Tawe had obtained planning consent for…
Read MoreOutdoor enthusiasts speak up for forest access
Nine organisations, representing a broad range of people who care about and enjoy the great outdoors, have today (10 May) issued a statement to the chair of the Independent Panel on Forestry, Bishop of Liverpool James Jones, expressing their concerns and hopes for the future of public access to all our forests and woodland. The…
Read MoreOne quarter of new Assembly Members support our action plan for Wales
Fifteen of the 60 members of the National Assembly for Wales have supported, wholly or largely, the Open Spaces Society’s 12-point Action Plan for Wales. We sent the plan, through our members in Wales and from our headquarters, to all the candidates in the recent election, asking for their backing. The 15 Assembly Members are:…
Read MoreOpen Spaces Society fights development on Ellonby Common
The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s leading pressure-group for common land, has objected to a planning appeal which would damage Ellonby Common, in the parish of Skelton five miles north-west of Penrith in Cumbria. The application for a dwelling next to the common with a driveway across it was rejected by Eden District Council last September,…
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Our blueprint for green-space law
We have made a bid to save unconsidered scraps and patches of land from development and neglect. Responding to the government’s proposal for ‘a new designation to protect green areas of particular importance to local communities’(1) the society points out that these are likely to be small and often not very green─but of great value…
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Public inquiry opens into plan to enclose chiltern common
On 19 April a public inquiry opens into plans by the Nettlebed and District Commons Conservators to erect more than two kilometres of fencing around the lovely Kingwood Common in the Oxfordshire Chilterns. We are among the objectors. The society has objected on three counts. 1. We believe that the law does not allow Kingwood…
Read MoreUnique Staines Moor is saved
Heathrow Airtrack has abandoned its plans for a new rail-link which would have taken a chunk of Staines Moor common in Surrey. Last year we strongly opposed the application for a land swap to enable the common to be used. We argued that the land being offered in exchange was grossly inferior to the land…
Read MoreOur action plan for the new Welsh Assembly Government
We have published our 12-point action plan for candidates in the Welsh Assembly Government election, urging them to commit themselves to our action points. We are contacting all the candidates through our members in Wales, and from our headquarters, to seek their pledges of support. Our 12 points include a better deal for the nation’s…
Read MoreFirst victory in battle to restore St Catherine’s Hill common
We have won the first round in the battle to restore parts of St Catherine’s Hill Common lost to illegal privatisation. We welcomed the decision by the Planning Inspectorate to reject an application from Guildford Borough Council, the owner of St Catherine’s Hill Common south of Guildford in Surrey, to plant a hollybush screen, three…
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Our new chairman
Tim Crowther from Weybridge in Surrey is our new chairman. For the past 12 years Tim has been an active member of Elmbridge Borough Council. Prior to retirement he worked for a government property agency. He became a member of the Open Spaces Society over 25 years ago. A lifelong walker, Tim has completed many…
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