We help to secure new common land at Yateley, Hampshire
We have welcomed a decision to take new land into Yateley Common at Cottage Farm. Paul Freer, BA (Hons) LLM PhD MRTPI, a Planning Inspectorate inspector, granted the application of Falcon Propco4 Ltd (the owner of Blackbushe aerodrome) to deregister just over 14 hectares of aerodrome common land, and designate about the same area of…
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Plymouth City Council reverses decision to build on Wilmot Gardens
We are delighted that the high court has quashed Plymouth City Council’s decision to build five houses on Wilmot Gardens, a popular open space in Crownhill. The society gave financial support to local campaigners fighting to save this space. Unusually, when faced with court action from Frank Hartkopf, on behalf of local people, the council…
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Public right to walk on Clinton Devon Estate’s new commons
Today, 16 April 2025, the public gains the right to walk on newly-registered common land on the Clinton Devon Estates at Woodbury, east Devon. This is thanks to an agreement between the estate and the society. In November 2023 Clinton Devon Estates sought consent under section 16 of the Commons Act 2006 to deregister 1.7…
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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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Bring on Wales’s new national park
We strongly support the new national park in north-east Wales. The society believes that the national park designation will benefit the splendid, varied landscape of this region, its wildlife and culture, and will help to promote responsible public access and enjoyment. However, it has also called for the Welsh government to make sufficient funds available…
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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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Government’s new planning policies give green spaces the cold shoulder
We have expressed our fears for the future of open spaces in the government’s revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published today (12 December 2024). Says Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary: ‘We called for legal protection and long-term maintenance of urban green space; standards for the amount of green space in development, and a duty on…
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Mega-development on Kilvey Hill, Swansea, would cut a hole in a Persian carpet
We have objected strongly to the amended planning application from Swansea Skyline to convert Kilvey Hill, east of Swansea, into a commercial tourist-site. The society considers the hill to be a much-loved local gem, which should not be sacrificed for mega-tourism. The proposed development would comprise, among other structures, gondola stations and chairlift infrastructure for…
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Green-space gap in new planning policies
‘The planning system should give the creation and protection of green space and public paths the same priority as other infrastructure. Sadly, this is not reflected in the proposed revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).’ So declared Nicola Hodgson, one of our case officers. ‘This would have been a good opportunity to put green spaces,…
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