The Open Spaces Society,Britain’s leading pressure-group for the protection of common land, has objected to a proposal from Western Power Distribution to site an overhead electricity line, with 15 poles, on a South Wales common.
The proposed electricity line would run for nearly a mile across Gwaun Cae Gurwen common, about three miles north of Pontardawe in Neath Port Talbot. Because the line would affect common land, Western Power Distribution must obtain the consent of Welsh ministers, via the Planning Inspectorate (PINS), under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. Western Power wants the 11kv overhead line because it will connect to a wind turbine at Perthi Gwynion Farm, Rhydyfro near Pontardawe. The Open Spaces Society considers that the line will be an eyesore and will spoil the enjoyment of walkers and riders who have access rights across this open common.
Says Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society:
‘This common is a valuable recreational resource for the people in the nearby towns. It is particularly important for people to be able to enjoy open country close to their homes.
‘We believe that an overhead line, with 15 poles across this common, will spoil its rural nature. Commons should be kept free of industrial clutter.
‘Western Power Distribution should site its line away from the common. We have urged PINS to reject the application,’ Kate declares.
About OSS:
The Open Spaces Society was founded in 1865 as the Commons Preservation Society.* It is Britain’s oldest national conservation body. Its founders and early members included John Stuart Mill, Lord Eversley, Sir Robert Hunter and Octavia Hill. The last two founded the National Trust in 1895 along with Canon Rawnsley.
Lord Eversley, as George Lefevre, was a Liberal MP and became a junior minister at the Board of Trade in Gladstone’s government. He held a variety of posts including Commissioner of Works. He opened Hampton Court Park, Kew Gardens and Regent’s Park to the public.
Over the last century the society has preserved commons for the enjoyment of the public. It has also been active in protecting the historical and vital rights-of-way network through England and Wales.
Our early successes included saving Hampstead Heath from gravel extraction, Epping Forest, Wimbledon Common, Ashdown Forest and the Malvern Hills, among many other places.
After both world wars the society’s difficult task was to reinstate much common land which had been used for defence and food production.
In the late 1960s, following the enactment of the Commons Registration Act 1965, we worked hard to register common land and common rights, in the far-too-short three years allowed by the act. Many commons were lost through failure to register them.
Much of our work is about the preservation and creation of public paths – footpaths was included in the society’s title after it amalgamated with the National Footpaths Preservation Society in 1899. Before the introduction of official maps of public paths in the early 1950s, the public did not know where the paths were. We helped to campaign for paths to be shown on Ordnance Survey maps.
After several changes of name, the society is now known formally as the Open Spaces Society. Today the Society has its headquarters in the attractive town of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire. It has over 2,300 members throughout England and Wales.
Our principal work includes helping our members protect their local common land, town and village greens, open spaces and public paths, and answering their queries. We advise the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and National Assembly for Wales on applications for works on common land, and we are notified by local authorities whenever there is a proposal to alter the route of a public right of way. We campaign for changes in legislation to protect paths and spaces.
For more information please visit: www.oss.org.uk
