Fight to save ancient Lyde Green Common from development threat
People are being urged to object to plans to deregister ancient Lyde Green Common amid fears that it could be “swallowed up by development”.
Commoners, local councillors and MPs Chris Skidmore and Luke Hall are urging people to make their views known to the Planning Inspectorate before the 19th October deadline.
Around 2,500 homes are being built at Emersons Green East over the next 10 years by several developers, including Taylor Wimpey, Linden, Barratt and Persimmon, and the new development will border the common where hedgerows are said to date back at least 1,000 years.
The alternative site that is being proposed
The common is made up of grassland, a stream, woodland and marshland. It was included in a development plan back in 2004 but removed in 2011.
Now Devon-based company Norft Ltd has applied to the Planning Inspectorate to deregister the common and in exchange proposes to give the community alternative space off Coxgrove Hill.
The reason given for the switch is “health and safety requirements for the safe and secure exercising of commoners’ rights which cannot be achieved on the release land”.
Lyde Green Common is on the border of the Parliamentary constituencies of Kingswood and Thornbury & Yate. It falls within the Boyd Valley ward of South Gloucestershire Council. Before May’s elections it was in the parish of Pucklechurch but a boundary change means the common is now in the new Emersons Green Town Council’s area.
However, the town council was not officially informed of the deregistration bid and only learned about it when commoner Gerald Taylor, of Howsmoor Lane, contacted the clerk.
The new Lyde Green development
The town council met on Thursday when Mr Taylor explained that Julian Darling, of Norft, claimed ownership of the land some years ago after buying the lordship of the manor of Westerleigh, a qualified, not full title.
Mr Taylor said the application for deregistration was “a clear and present threat” to the common and asked the council to “vigorously oppose this proposal”. He described the proposed replacement site, north of the old dramway, as an “overgrazed paddock” accessed from the same narrow road and near a blind corner.
The Mayor of Emersons Green Cllr Rich Nichols said the council was thankful to Mr Taylor for highlighting the issue and vowed: “We will fight it all the way.”
And Cllr Colin Hunt, a town and district councillor, said there had been a battle before to save the common before and there would be another fight now.
And last night the two MPs attended a meeting with town and district councillors at which Mr Skidmore said: “Without the common Lyde Green will cease to have any green,” adding: “We are fighting for a community that doesn’t exist yet.”
As well as writing to the Planning Inspectorate, the MPs have already contacted the Secretary of State with their concerns.
In his letter to the Inspectorate, Mr Skidmore outlined his concern that deregistration would lead to an application to build further houses on Lyde Green Common itself: “The entire construction of Lyde Green has been predicated on the protection of Lyde Green Common; its deregistration would have a significant impact upon the infrastructure capabilities and visual impact of the Lyde Green estate.”
And he said deregistration could pave the way for similar applications on other common land in his constituency, including Siston Common, Rodway Common and Webbs Heath.
The Open Spaces Society has also written to the Planning Inspectorate. Chris Bloor, from the society, said: “Our fear is that, once deregistered, the land could be swallowed up by development. In fact this common, which is surrounded by new development, will be more valuable than ever as a green space for public enjoyment and recreation.
“The proposed replacement land is some distance away and will not serve the community who benefit from Lyde Green. The exchange land is remote and detached, and is no different from the fields which adjoin it. It is an unfair exchange.”
Representations can be made by the 19th October deadline to Common Land Team, The Planning Inspectorate, Room 3/258, Hawk Wing, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6PN. Alternatively email [email protected]