Plans to extend the National Parks – your chance to respond
Friends of the Lake District want to make the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks bigger. Natural England is asking for your views on the proposed boundary extensions to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks now. Friends of the Lake District, the Campaign for National Parks and their key supporter group, which…
Read MoreLocalism Bill threatens open spaces
We have once again criticised the Localism Bill, the Government’s flagship measure for giving people power to run their local communities. The bill is due for a second reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday 7 June. Our case officer Nicola Hodgson, says: ‘We believe one of the bill’s most important aspects should be…
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Chiltern common saved from enclosure
We are relieved that the environment secretary has rejected plans by the Nettlebed and District Commons Conservators to erect more than two kilometres of fencing around Kingwood Common in the Oxfordshire Chilterns. The application for works on the common under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006 was heard at a public inquiry in April,…
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Successful voluntary registration for town green
Open Spaces Society member and vice-president, Tony Greaves, has reported on the successful voluntary registration of Barnoldswick Town Green in Pendle, Lancashire. The town green is an area of grass and trees in the small town of Barnoldswick (Barlick) and is a much-valued green space near the centre of the town which is well used…
Read MoreFarming lobbyists attack greens and public paths
We have slated as ‘crude and ill-informed’ proposals for village greens and public paths in the report of the Farming Regulation Task Force (the Macdonald Report), ‘Striking a balance: reducing burdens; increasing responsibility; earning recognition’. Says our case officer, Nicola Hodgson: ‘the proposals are crude because they are the work of an obviously vested interest…
Read MoreWelsh 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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New Hampshire trail commemorates path worker
On Saturday 23 April Kate Ashbrook, our general secretary, paid tribute to Brenda Parker, who did so much for walkers in Hampshire. Kate cut the ribbon to open the Brenda Parker Way, a 78-mile long-distance path through north Hampshire between Andover and Aldershot. The route has been devised, created and waymarked by the Ramblers, Hampshire…
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