The Common Good
The creation of a new village green at Maes Glasfryn, St Davids, is a milestone event for the Open Spaces Society. General Secretary Kate Ashbrook explains its work.
The society encourages the registration of village greens because this protects land from development and gives local people rights of recreation there. We are Britain’s oldest national conservation body, founded 160 years ago in 1865, and our mission is to protect green spaces and public paths for public enjoyment.
Greens are registered by the county council, either on evidence of 20 years’ use by local people, without challenge or interruption, for informal recreation, or by a landowner dedicating the land. Maes Glasfryn was dedicated by its generous landowners Matthew, Andrew and Stuart Gray. It sets a fine example to owners of green spaces throughout Wales and England.
We try to persuade developers to offer a registered green as part of a development so that the community has a space which it knows will endure.
We also take a particular interest in common land. Commons are all owned, but others have rights there, to graze animals or collect wood for instance, and the public has rights to walk on all commons and to ride on some. Because we are recognised as experts, we are notified of all applications for works on common land; these are decided by Welsh ministers. We object when we consider that the public interest will be adversely affected.
Thus, in 2020, we opposed an application for 1,500 square metres of stock-proof fencing on Rhos Gelli Gron Common in Ceredigion and were pleased when it was rejected by the planning inspector because it would have been harmful to the landscape, history, and public access.
Forty years ago, we succeeded in getting unlawful fences removed from Plumstone Mountain common near Camrose, and now we are involved in the common’s management, for public access and nature conservation on this special site.
The Open Spaces Society is a charity. We help our members with their campaigns to protect commons, greens, other open spaces and paths. If you would like to join, please look here: https://www.oss.org.uk/