Vocal for local
Our general secretary Kate Ashbrook considers life for the Open Spaces Society during lockdown. As lockdown began, I foolishly thought we would have time to catch up with all those long-deferred jobs. I was wrong: we have been busier than ever. Developers are not deterred by a pandemic: open spaces remain at risk, perhaps more…
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Hanwell land-grab
Our member Steven Toft describes the fight by Hanwell residents to wrest their open space from land-grabbers In April 2019, residents of Hanwell in Ealing, west London, were dismayed that part of their park had been fenced off. St Margaret’s open space sits by the Grand Union Canal and is part of Brent River Park.…
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Archive progress
The Special Collections team at the University of Reading and the Museum of English Rural Life (the MERL) has been working with the society to care for, and to open, our archive to the public and to potential researchers. The completed cataloguing work, and the collected oral histories of key staff members, will reveal our…
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Kent parish council dedicates a green
We have commended our member East Malling and Larkfield Parish Council in Kent for dedicating land as a village green. Kent County Council approved the registration in February. The one-acre land is known as Whimbrel Village Green and is an area of open space within a housing estate (the streets of which are named…
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How do we protect open spaces closer to home?
The think tank, ‘Centre for Cities’, which focuses on improving the economies of the UK’s largest cities and towns, published an article at the start of our lock down period, ‘How easy is it for people to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic?‘ It concluded that the provision of public open space, such as…
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We oppose Clapham Common fencing plan
We have objected to an application from Lambeth Borough Council for fencing on Clapham Common. The council wants to erect temporary steel fencing around the ‘events site’ on the common for three weeks, from 15 August to 5 September, with the intention of holding festivals there. Because the land is common, it must have the…
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Blackburn group win support of borough council for new Asset of Community Value
A much loved open space at Whitehall Road in Blackburn, has been awarded Asset of Community Value (ACV) status by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council following a campaign by the Whitehall Road Neighbourhood Group. The benefit of achieving ACV listing is that this becomes a material planning consideration, a matter that should be taken into…
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Welsh government allows closure of some paths and access land
The Welsh government has introduced emergency legislation which enabled certain bodies to close identified public paths and access land because they create a risk of spreading coronavirus. The bodies had to close the paths by noon on 25 March 2020. The bodies (known as ‘relevant bodies’) entitled to do this are: county or county borough…
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Commons victory at historic Berkhamsted
We are delighted that Hertfordshire County Council has added a piece of Berkhamsted Common to the common-land register. This will protect a further part of this historic common from development. The land is 0.17 hectares to the north of Britwell Drive, near Berkhamsted Golf Club (about one kilometre north-west of Berkhamsted). The land was subject…
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Coronavirus (Covid-19) Update
We thank you for visiting our website and hope that you remain safe and well. The society team is working as usual during lockdown allbeit remotely. With our physical office running on a skeleton staff, responding to postal enquiries will take a much longer than usual and we would ask you not to telephone if…
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